


Luck Of The Draw

by Oricalle



Series: Luck Of The Draw Universe [1]
Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe- Card Games, Byleth Is Not A Professor, Edelgard Is Not An Emperor, Explicit Language, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Mentions of Gaslighting, Post-Timeskip (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Sexual Innuendo but no Sexual Content, Spoilers for Post-Timeskip | War Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Strangers to Lovers, alcohol use, as in everyone is their post-skip ages, hubert is a bird
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-04
Updated: 2020-03-27
Packaged: 2020-10-10 03:09:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 75,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20520974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oricalle/pseuds/Oricalle
Summary: Edelgard is a lonely grad student whose only escape from the doldrums of university life comes in the form of her favorite card game.  When a newcomer at the shop manages to trounce her, she quickly wants to learn the woman's strategies and secrets, but ends up learning a little more about herself.9/2/20: Wedding one-shot epilogue debuting on Friday!





	1. A New Challenger

Thursdays were special to Edelgard. Her lecture hours were mercifully short, the students who rented the parking spaces next to hers were absent, giving her plenty of room to slide her car in, and Professor Hanneman’s favorite television show was on that night, so he was always in a good mood during her advisory meetings. Still, those were all simple pleasures, minor bonuses stacked onto the real main attraction, a blessed break from the rigors of day-to-day life.

That rift in the world came in the form of a corner shop, Nabatea, at the nearby mall, where she was headed now. The faded posters covering the windows let her know she had arrived at her destination, and the faint red glow of the OPEN sign was like an embrace for her soul. Edelgard inhaled, stood up straight, and walked into the games store in an entirely different persona.

The first thing she looked at upon entering wasn’t the man behind the desk, despite his familiar wave. With her shoulders back and spine straightened, perhaps trying to look a little taller than she actually was, she gave the terrible blue banner over the clerk’s head a menacing glower. The canvas lion seemed to stare back, challenging her and starting a fond little patter in her heart. It was childish, but this was the only place she could be that way! She’d take full advantage, thank you very much.

The man behind the counter cleared his throat, as if trying to wrest her attention back to the real world.

“Good evening, Edelgard. I thought we’d perhaps miss you tonight.” Seteth, Nabatea’s owner, always had an air of professionalism about him. His hair was well groomed and his goatee perfectly shaped, and any guesses at his age were routinely shrugged off. She knew a few patrons who only visited the store for Seteth, in truth. Edelgard, however, wasn’t after something so fickle as a crush.

“Nice to see you, Seteth. I’d like to enter myself in the Fire Emblem tournament tonight.”

A rare smile crossed the owner’s face. “What a surprise.”

She withdrew five dollars from her purse, passed it over the counter, and gave Seteth a courteous nod as he input her name into the computer. “Your team is putting up quite the fight this season, you know.” he mused.

“I’d hoped so. How close are we to overcoming the Lions?”

Seteth’s eyes flicked to another monitor at the counter. “Do well enough tonight and you may just pull ahead. Ingrid hasn’t been coming to the shop recently. I suppose school’s keeping her busy.”

“What a shame.” Edelgard replied, not entirely sure how sincere she was. She had nothing against Ingrid, but less points for the Lions were less points for the Lions...

“Indeed. But studies do come first.” Seteth ripped a stub of paper from the old printer and handed it over in one practiced motion. “You’re all set. I’d wish you luck, but…”

Edelgard smirked, letting her day-to-day personality fade away and “The Emperor” make her full appearance. “You know I don’t believe in it.”

Outside of Nabatea, she was Edelgard Hresvelg, graduate student. Distant, thoughtful, and intelligent, but ultimately just another of Garreg Mach University’s two-thousand occupants. As she descended the stairs into that basement play area, though, she transformed. She was a conqueror, cunning and ruthless, unmatched in strategy and wit. Down here, she had another name, one that was whispered by fallen foes.

The Emperor.

The basement floor was as claustrophobic as ever. Banged-up card tables flanked by deck chairs were pushed against the walls, offering only a small space for passerby to squeeze between. The water pipes were infamously too low, with a hearty bonk on the head after standing up from a game considered a rite of passage for newcomers to the store. College students filled the seats, mostly absorbed in games on the tables or chatting to friends, with the occasional sound of a crinkled bag of chips or the squeak of a metal chair against the wooden floor serving as the only ambience.

But that wasn’t how Edelgard liked to view it. She was, after all, an Emperor, and this was her domain. Each game was a battle, the winner bringing home honor and glory for their chosen faction (after submitting the results to Seteth, of course). Instead of simply being her classmates, the others were valiant allies or nefarious rivals, and judging by the sound of the chatter, two of her greatest rivals awaited near the bottom of the steps.

“Dimitri. Claude” 

Each of them looked up from the desperate struggle (trading card game) they were locked in and gave her a smile.

“Nice to see you, Edelgard.” Dimitri remarked, pushing a bit of long blonde hair away from his face.

Claude chuckled. “Thought you’d chickened out on us after last week’s tournament.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Are you referring to the tournament in which I beat you, Reigan?”

A familiar grin crossed his face. “Hey, you know it was damn close, right?”

Edelgard took a moment to survey the table and check the state of their game. Dimitri had his entire set of cards carefully arranged on a plastic mat. His Lord card was, as usual, Prince Marth, one of the oldest and most popular choices in the game. Marth was a common choice for newbies, but nobody could play him like Dimitri, much to Edelgard’s chagrin. His board was already full of Armored Knights and Cavaliers, each carefully matched to another to form what appeared to be a nearly impregnable defense. Not for her, of course, but your average player likely would have scooped up their cards at such an opposition. They frequently did.

Claude, of course, was not average. He was, as far as she knew, still rather new to the game, but his strategies were always something to behold. His Lord was one she’d not seen him play with before, Jeorge, Perfect Shot. He seemed to notice her curious glance, turning the card to face her and giving one of his usual winning smiles.

“Opened him in one of the prize packs from last week. Tossed a little deck together for him, figured I’d see how it works!”

That sounded like Claude. While Edelgard liked to analyze her cards, often carefully testing a deck’s performance at home for weeks before bringing it out to play at Nabatea, she’d once seen Claude open a new pack of cards (with his teeth!) and just toss the entire set into his deck in the middle of a tournament. His battlefield setup was similarly chaotic, with units from all sorts of sets and ingame factions seemingly randomly scattered across his side of the table. She’d made the mistake of thinking this was a product of laziness the first time she’d played against Claude, but quickly learned her lesson when he chained together a bizarre series of effects to yank that win right out of her grasp. So, in truth, she had no idea who held the upper hand at the moment.

“How were your classes today? Were the freshmen behaving?” asked Dimitri, making small talk as he flicked through the cards in his hand.

Edelgard shrugged. “They were, well enough, at least.” All three of them were graduate students who assisted in teaching at least one course at the university. While Edelgard’s field was Chemistry, Dimitri was getting his Master’s degree in Biology. She wasn’t entirely sure what Claude did, he’d once told her it was English Literature but changed his answer to PoliSci the next day. She had since decided the knowledge wasn’t worth the effort of pinning the man down.

Dimitri started to make a move, announcing his intent aloud to Claude, and she decided to move on, glancing down at the slip of paper Seteth had provided her with her first match of the day. 

Table 4  
Seat 2

Casting her eyes across the room, she quickly found her assigned seat, which unfortunately appeared to be next to a match consisting of Ferdinand and Sylvain, a pair of loudmouth business students. She knew both of them all too well, but the woman in the seat across from her was entirely new.

The newcomer had long, dark blue hair that flopped carelessly over her shoulders, a pink hairband being the only thing in sight keeping the mop in check. She was wearing a black hoodie and jeans, casually thumbing at a phone clenched tight in her hands.

It was rather rare to see new faces at the Fire Emblem tournaments. Nabatea was mostly frequented by students from Garreg Mach, so Edelgard knew most of them well at this point, having completed her undergrad degree at the school. She wasn’t the best at introductions, but this situation seemed to call for one.

“Hello there.” Edelgard smiled as she slid into the seat opposite the mystery woman, offering one hand across the table as the other fished in her purse. “I’m Edelgard. Is this your first time at Nabatea?”

Slowly, her opponent lowered her phone to the table. She gingerly took the offered hand, giving it only a brief shake before withdrawing. Edelgard couldn’t help but notice how oddly piercing her unfocused eyes seemed.

“Byleth. Yes.”

A woman of few words, evidently. Edelgard gave an awkward smile, almost thankful for Sylvain’s sudden intrusion.

“Ooh, first match and it’s the Emperor? Rough luck, newbie, but give it your all!”

If that unnerved Byleth, she didn’t show any sign of it. She didn’t seem to show much sign of anything.

Edelgard pulled her crimson deck box from her purse, taking a moment to admire the black woolen eagle that had been embroidered on it. It was a twenty-third birthday gift from Edelgard’s friend Dorothea, one she’d apparently convinced her reclusive roommate to put together.

On the other side of the table, Byleth retrieved her cards from a beaten cardboard box. Edelgard recognized it as one of the containers for the starter decks the manufacturers put together for new players, as an affordable entry point into the game. Typically the flimsy packaging got thrown away quickly, but the faded paint and wear and tear on this box seemed to indicate that Byleth had given it some use. As the pair of them shuffled, Edelgard decided to limp into small talk once more.

“So, do you attend Garreg Mach?”

Byleth shook her head. “No. My dad is working a guest position. I’m making sure he doesn’t hurt himself.”

Edelgard offered a courteous giggle, but she suddenly worried that Byleth wasn’t joking. Perhaps she should shoot for common ground.

“How long have you been playing Fire Emblem? I started when I was thirteen.”

Byleth shrugged. “A while.”

Dear God, this was like pulling teeth from a statue. A wave of relief rushed over Edelgard as Byleth offered her deck over for her opponent to cut, and she mimicked the motion. Finally, the pre-game pleasantries were over, and Edelgard could feel the familiar rush of pride as she revealed her Lord with a flourish.

“I’ll be using Arvis, Emperor of Flame!”

Edelgard had always adored Arvis. Sure, he was a villain in the game’s story (or so she had been told, she didn’t pay much attention to the lore), but his art and design made him her favorite Lord of the bunch. She, of course, would put him away as the situation demanded it, often swapping to more powerful Lords as they were released with the new expansions, but she always enjoyed when the metagame shifted to a point where he was again a powerful choice. She’d even gotten her Arvis card altered by a visiting artist, who had painted additional flames rising behind his imposing form.

Wordlessly, Byleth placed her Lord on the table. Robin, Mystery Tactician. Robin was another very popular Lord for newer players, one that often came bundled with the starter packs for the game. Judging by the box and the Lord, Edelgard assumed her opponent would be using one of those pre-built decks, and felt a twinge of guilt. Those weren’t designed for tournament play, and her carefully designed and souped-up deck could easily overrun any of them.

Still, she reminded herself, this was war. Mercy and advice could come after the game, but while the cards were on the table, she was the Emperor. It was time to give the new girl a Garreg Mach welcome!

The opening turns of the game played out as usual. In Fire Emblem, you could win the game either by destroying enough of your opponent’s unit cards to reach a point total, or slaying their Lord, which was an automatic victory. Attacking the Lord was often a rookie’s mistake, so Edelgard liked to bait her opponents into it. She played fast and loose with Arvis’ positioning, surrounding him with some of her favorite Armor Knight units. Sylvain whistled as she dropped her foil Sheema, Princess of Gra onto the table, a card she’d spent weeks trading for around the shop.

Her opponent played shockingly quickly, Edelgard noticed. She used a deck that reminded Edelgard of Claude’s, deploying units of many different types. Typically, when Edelgard was matched against a newcomer, they’d ask her for clarification on game rules or how to read certain cards, but Byleth never did such a thing. Her movements were announced with complete certainty, never questions, but statements.

“Robin will attack your Hardin from the Forest. Terrain Bonus activates.”

“I play a Quan from my Fortress tile.”

“I’ll use this Ballista card to deal five ranged damage to your Wrys. Any response? It is destroyed.”

Typically Edelgard’s opponents would be idly chatting or munching on snacks during the game, but Byleth seemed to have a laser focus, and the Emperor was loving it. She was fully in the zone, in her mind standing in Arvis’ place and facing down the Mystery Tactician’s forces on the battlefield. Every play she made brought a swift counter from Byleth, and she was constantly on her toes to see what strategy her rival might employ next. Ferdinand’s curious gaze went completely unnoticed, as did Sylvain’s whistle when Byleth managed to stop one of her Mage corp’s attacks with a well placed combination of magic spells from her hand. Their match went back and forth, neither ever seeming to gain the upper hand. This was only a heavily modified version of one of the starter decks, she was sure, but the way Byleth piloted it was nothing short of masterful. It was like going up against Dimitri’s consistency and Claude’s clever tactics at once!

Before she knew it, both she and Byleth were in the final stages of the game, each close to a victory and nearly out of cards in their respective decks. Edelgard surveyed the battlefield like the eagle on her deck box, carefully taking note of every card in play.

Byleth’s forces were spread across her side of the table, calling to mind the image of a scattered group of weary heroes on a bloodsoaked battleground. Robin was in her Castle zone, currently invulnerable to most forms of attack. Thankfully, one of Arvis’ special skills was “Bolganone”, which could destroy an enemy castle after a turn of preparation, which would put an end to the game. Her own troops remained concentrated around her Lord, but Edelgard knew she’d need to spread them thinner to cover all possible avenues of attack, and even then she didn’t have enough units to cover each side of her Lord. A lone empty Fortress stared back at her from Byleth’s side of the table, the only remaining location her opponent could play new units onto the battlefield.

Edelgard called on the many nights spent alone on her laptop, mentally sorting through a list of all of the popular units Byleth could summon. Lyn didn’t have enough Movement to reach Arvis from there, Cain and Abel didn’t have enough Attack to slay him before Bolganone was activated, and the Emperor Of Flame’s towering Resistance statistic made him nearly immune to the magical likes of Tharja or Soren. The Fortress, she realized, was nothing more than false hope for Byleth. Nothing she could deploy could stop the Emperor now!

“I’ll move my units like this…” Edelgard called, trying to keep the excitement in her voice throttled. Soon, each side of Arvis was blocked by another piece of cardboard, except for the one facing the Fortress. “And now, I’ll activate Arvis’ Bolganone, targeting your Castle.” She smiled and tipped her hand. “Your turn.”

A small crowd had gathered, the length of their game (and Edelgard’s near-tardy arrival) having given the rest of the players enough time to finish their first rounds. They may as well not have been there at all, for all Edelgard was concerned, as she was only interested in watching the look on Byleth’s face shift as she thumbed carefully at the one card left in her hand. Soon, she knew, that curious gaze would fall to a resigned defeat, and the Emperor would claim yet another victory on the battlefield.

Or so she hoped.

There was no ceremony to the final blow. Byleth simply dropped her final card onto the fortress, her wide eyes still gazing over at Edelgard as she announced her play.

“Jagen, Veteran Knight.”

Confusion bubbled up in Edelgard’s chest. Jagen? Jagen was an infamously terrible card, often simply considered a lesson to new players about the value of long-term planning in the game. Despite his overwhelming initial stats, for each turn the Veteran Knight was in play, he suffered massive penalties, soon making him little more than a source of free points for your opponent once they slayed him without a second thought. Sure, his Movement was impressive, and on the first turn he appeared his Attack was unmatched, but…

Wait.

Oh no.

“Jagen moves from the Fortress to Arvis, striking with a Silver Lance. That’s twenty-five damage. Any response?”

The stifled chuckles at Byleth’s play had suddenly turned to awed gasps from many of the surrounding players, but Edelgard still couldn’t hear them. In her mind’s eye, again, she was on the battlefield, staring up at Jagen as he pierced her heart with his lance. The battle, it seemed, had ended.

“You...you win?”

Cheers erupted from the spectators, hands flying forward to prompt a high-five from the challenger who had just bested the Emperor. Still reeling from such an unexpected loss, Edelgard was only pulled back to the real world when Byleth reached out to shake her hand. The ghost of a smile seemed to light up the quiet woman’s cheeks, and Edelgard could feel a flush of her own coming on. Only from embarrassment, surely.

“Good game, Edelgard.”

“...Good game.”

Byleth gathered her cards and stood, walking away and leaving Edelgard to wonder how she’d made such a blunder. Was it because she skipped her usual snack before coming to the store? Had grading the first batch of research papers from her freshman class simply worn her out? A sinking feeling crawled into her gut as a terrifying thought clawed its way to the forefront.

Was Byleth distracting her?

The Emperor stewed in her defeat for the remainder of the round, images of the newbie’s deep blue eyes haunting her vision. Perhaps she was simply taking the game too seriously, letting her own secretly vibrant imagination push her too far into the role she played. It wouldn’t be the first time, as Ferdinand so often liked to remind her. Regardless of the reason, she couldn’t deny the feeling starting to cling to her chest.

Somehow, the Emperor had to convince Byleth to become an ally, and her Black Eagles would be unstoppable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've never tried a Modern AU before and this idea just...wouldn't leave my head? I wrote this because I couldn't sleep and the idea of Edelgard preening over a fancy box of playing cards made me smile.
> 
> Not all of the tags are present now, but I put them in because I could see them appearing later in the story, if I choose to continue it. 
> 
> Speaking of more chapters, if that's something you'd be interested in seeing, please let me know! I'm looking for a project to work on once Broken Blade wraps up, and I had way more fun writing this than I probably should have!
> 
> (also the card game isn't Cipher because I wanted something more dramatic, so I just awkwardly jammed my childhood memories of yugioh and magic together)


	2. In The Dark

An odd shadow hung over Edelgard’s shoulders as she walked out of Nabatea, barely remembering to take the time to say goodbye to Seteth and collect her participation rewards from the day’s tournament.

That opening loss to Byleth, and Byleth herself, managed to stick with her for the next two rounds of gameplay. She’d managed to defeat her next opponent, Raphael, but folded uncharacteristically quickly to Dimitri’s assault in the final round.

“Are you feeling alright?” he had asked, his face scrunched with uncommon concern as he filed his cards away. “You’ve been eating, right? Your face is flush.”

“I’m fine, Dimitri.” She had hoped her snappy reply carried enough finality to get the man to drop it. Dimitri was goodhearted and polite, but he carried the unfortunate curse of being a Biology major and thus feeling the need to play doctor with everyone he met.

For the rest of the evening, she’d been trying to sneak glances around the store during her matches to search for another glance at the mysterious newcomer, but Byleth was nowhere to be found. Would she really just get up and leave after winning her first match in the tournament? It seemed like a waste of perfectly good potential winnings to Edelgard, but she supposed that perhaps something could have called her away. There were more important things than card games, after all.

She hoped that she’d see Byleth again next week, itching for a rematch and a lengthy conversation about joining up with Edelgard’s Black Eagles.

The events at Nabatea were pushed into the back of her mind as Edelgard nudged herself through the glass doors of a small juice bar. A tiny bell rang as she entered, and the fresh scent of strawberries filled her nostrils. As usual, Cethleann’s was fairly empty, especially at 8:00 PM. A few groups of what appeared to be elderly residents from the nearby nursing home mulled about the back of the store, but the remainder of the brightly-colored interior was vacant. As Edelgard approached the counter, a familiar face greeted her with a wave.

“Heya, Edie!”

Dorothea Arnault was an absolute dynamo of a woman. She was smart, resourceful, talented, and somehow beautiful enough to make a neon-orange uniform and grape-shaped hat look like the absolute pinnacle of fashion. Most importantly, though, she was Edelgard’s first roommate, and the two had been inseparable friends ever since, even now that they no longer lived together. Not missing a beat, Dorothea began gathering fruits from the refrigerators behind the counter, tossing bits into blenders as she spoke.

“Would you like the usual health blend tonight, or are we treating ourselves and living a little, dear?”

The question made Edelgard smile as she reached into her purse, pulling out the dregs of last week’s university stipend. “The usual, Dorothea.” she replied, dropping the coins and crumpled one dollar bills onto the counter. Her friend’s face fell a little, pouting as she reached laboriously for the jars of protein powder on the bottom shelf.

“Boo, Edie, no fun!” The barista poured a bit of the powder into each blender with the other ingredients and flipped the switches, filling the air with the gentle hum of whirling blades. “I’m going to go clock out and change, be right back!” 

Within a few minutes, Dorothea was back in her street clothes, pouring the contents of each blender into a cup and ducking under the counter to the main dining area. She beckoned her friend to follow with a tilt of her head, leading Edelgard to an empty booth. Before she could relax in the cool plastic seat, Dorothea clicked her tongue.

“Oh, wait, that won’t do, dear, swap with me.”

Confused, Edelgard sank into the red leather side of the booth. Pulling the drink from Dorothea’s hand, she took a tentative sip. “Why?”

A mischievous smirk curled across Dorothea’s face. “Well, I want to make sure your butt’s comfortable. I heard that the new girl at Nabatea gave you quite the spanking, in front of everyone, no less!”

The smoothie was almost expelled from Edelgard’s mouth as her face turned the same color as the seat. Suddenly her vivid imagination was betraying her, and the giggles pouring out of her best friend certainly didn’t help matters.

“How did you know?” she muttered, halfway groaning. It still took a few moments for Dorothea’s cackles to subside, and she was suddenly rather grateful that Cethleann’s was one of the least popular eateries in the mall.

“Lin texted me. Said you seemed pretty surprised!” Dorothea leaned in, sipping her drink as she watched Edelgard squirm.

“You...you shouldn’t be on your phone at work!”

Dorothea shrugged. “It’s called a break, Edie. Not like I have to spend all day pouring smoothies for trust-fund brats. I get to be lazy sometimes too!”

That was a surprising statement, coming from Dorothea. The students at Garreg Mach were almost all from wealthy families, given the cost of tuition and the board’s tendency to be lax with any scholarships. Dorothea even had a small one, but as long as Edelgard had known her, she’d still had to work full time and schedule classes at bizarre hours with fewer courses than normal. As pithy and carefree as she could act, there was a heart of iron buried inside of her.

The barista rapped her knuckles on the table. “But no changing the subject, Edie! Tell me about what happened!”

In between sips of orange-carrot smoothie, Edelgard recounted the tale of The Emperor’s stunning defeat upon the fields of Nabatea, brought low by the cunning tactics of a mysterious traveler who had vanished with the winds she blew in on. While Dorothea wasn’t quite as invested in Fire Emblem as Edelgard was, she was a Black Eagle too, and gave the story the amount of respect that pleased the fantastical part of her friend’s brain. 

“Wow.” Dorothea smirked and shook her head, flashing a charming smile. “Sounds like quite the tough customer. So you’re definitely already scouting her for our team, aren’t you?”

“Oh, of course.”

Dorothea chuckled. “That’s my girl. Never take your eyes off the prize, do you? Do you know how you’re going to find her again?”

Resting her elbows on the table, Edelgard planted her chin on her hands. The plastic beneath her squeaked as she pushed downwards. It was a good question, really. She’d just assumed that Byleth would be back, but she didn’t know if that was true. Perhaps she’d be too busy, or have already left with her father, or maybe she simply hadn’t enjoyed herself. Had her forceful personality pushed Byleth away? The idea sat uncomfortably in her stomach.

“I’ll just hope she comes around next week.” she offered. Judging by the frown on Dorothea’s face, that wasn’t a good enough answer.

“Hmm...so she doesn’t go to GMU, you don’t know her last name, she left as soon as your game ended, and she apparently doesn’t even live here most of the time?” With a groan, Edelgard planted her forehead in her palms. Dorothea pouted. “Won’t be easy, Edie.”

“We found that guy who bought you the vodka on your birthday, didn’t we?” Edelgard mused. “And we had even less to go on.”

With a snort, Dorothea nodded. “And he turned out to be a fucking creep, but I see what you mean. So...what does she look like? Maybe she’ll come by the store and I can tell her you’d like to chat sometime.”

A smile returned to Edelgard’s face. “Good idea, Dorothea! She had dark blue hair, about shoulder-length. Blue eyes, well, more of a sapphire, really. A lovely pink hairband, I think the kind they sell at the kiosks out front, and-”

Edelgard felt a chill run up her spine as she noticed the look on Dorothea’s face. While she admired much about the older woman, her matchmaker tendencies were not something to be excited about. But once Dorothea got that light in her eyes, Edelgard knew that there was no way to stop what had begun.

“Edie…”

“Don’t.”

“You really got a good look, didn’t you?” Her tone was mocking, but not malicious, as if she was a cat that had just begun batting at a ball of yarn. The yarn wasn’t amused.

“Yes, Dorothea. I did manage to see the woman I played Fire Emblem with for half-an-hour. I’ve not developed blindness since I saw you last weekend.” She affixed her friend with a glare, cinching the Emperor’s mask over Edelgard’s face. Perhaps intimidated, or perhaps simply making a tactical retreat, Dorothea raised her hands in surrender, leaning back in her seat.

“You win, you win.” Dorothea retorted, bouncing between her syllables with a tone that made Edelgard feel like she certainly hadn’t won at all. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep my eyes peeled for your mystery rival. But this isn’t exactly the most popular place, you might want to ask some other friends to look too.”

The straw squeaked as Edelgard idly scrubbed it up and down in her drink, silent for a moment. “Your play is on Sunday at seven, right?”

“Ooh!” Dorothea’s face lit up and her smile expanded, joy writ large across her features. “Yep! We’ve got two more performances, but that’ll be the first. Do you think you can make it?”

“Come now, Dorothea. What sort of GMU graduate assistant would I be if I didn’t support the Theater Department?” She smiled softly at Dorothea’s soft pout. “And what sort of friend would I be if I didn’t come and watch you?”

A pair of arms reached across the table to embrace her, and Edelgard retreated back in her seat, the world blurring for just a moment. “Oh, sorry!” Dorothea whispered. “I forgot that-”

“It’s okay. I know what you meant by it.” Edelgard let her muscles unclench, hoping the sudden increase in her heartbeat would soon follow. She greatly disliked being suddenly touched, even by Dorothea. She also hated the way her friend looked at her after a reaction, though. Far from the playful mockery from before, pity now seemed to radiate from Dorothea, and it made Edelgard feel terribly guilty. She decided to steer the conversation back to less awkward waters.

“Did you add something to the smoothies today? This tastes better than normal.”

“Nope.” Dorothea replied, taking a quick sip from her own cup and making a face. “Still...not the most appealing flavor combination. Are you really sure about the protein powder, Edie?”

“I’ve got to get it somehow. You know I’m not the type to prepare heavy meals.”

“Uh huh, because you can’t keep your face out of your studies or your laptop for ten minutes! You used to tell me even granola bars were a hassle once you made it to the graduate program!” As if she’d just seen a train wreck, Dorothea’s eyes shot open. “Oh my god, Edie, you’re still...eating regular meals, right?”

As expected, Dorothea’s impassioned response to the noncomittal shrug lasted for the rest of their evening.

When she returned home, Edelgard saw the dim glow of white light in her apartment, barely visible if she didn’t know where to look. Before entering the building, she took the time to lie her head on the still-warm steering wheel and groan.

“Fuck.”

After a slow trudge to the second floor, Edelgard reached her door. She moved for the brass knob, trying desperately to ignore the fact that her hand was shaking and her heart was pounding in her chest. 

The door opened before she could turn the knob, revealing the tall and gangly form of a middle-aged man in a dark gray suit. His thin mustache curved upwards as he smiled, revealing a full row of immaculate teeth. “My, someone was out late.” He stepped back and turned, extending an arm to invite her into her own apartment. Edelgard walked inside, goosebumps raised slightly as she brushed past him.

“Why are you in my apartment, Volkhard?” She wasn’t in the mood for his games tonight, simply yearning to get this confrontation over with. Her lips pursed as she noticed the large black mass waiting on her bedside table.

“Am I not allowed to visit my goddaughter, Edelgard? You’ll have to excuse me if I care for you.” He smiled and chuckled to himself, venom practically dripping from his words.

“I am twenty-three years old, Volkhard. I can take care of myself.”

“Oh, I know.” His lips curled back. “Your father is so proud of you.”

She resisted the urge to scream. Those words were chosen carefully, reminders of her perilous situation. Edelgard Hresvelg was the heir to the Adrestia Group’s wealth, true. Her father lead the investor’s bank and was widely considered one of the country’s finest businessmen in his prime. However, after her mother had died when she was a child, and Edelgard became very sick, Ionius Hresvelg discovered that none of the money in the world could help him. None of the doctors he hired could find any reason or treatment for his daughter’s condition, and in desperation, he contacted an old acquaintance.

Volkhard Arundel couldn’t have been happier for the business. His company, Agartha Chemical, dealt with experimental medical technology, and they had taken in the young Edelgard and cured her after a year of rigorous tests. Ever since, Volkhard had been a constant presence in her life, a major part of what encouraged her to become interested in chemistry in the first place. He had even volunteered to take care of her ailing father when his chronic illness required that he get medical care.

Volkhard’s hands had been on her shoulders so long that no one else could see the strings he had sewn into her limbs. 

This, in truth, was Volkhard’s apartment, her tuition money came from his pockets, and she knew that disobedience risked having every bit of that taken away, or worse, mistreatment of her father. And so she dipped her head, bile rising in her throat as she looked at the ground.

“Why don’t you take a seat, Edelgard?” He already towered over her, but as she reluctantly sat on her bed, she was forced to tilt her chin back to look up at the way he smiled. There was no light in his eyes.

“I simply wanted to ask how the semester was going.”

“It’s alright. I’ve been doing well.”

“Lovely. I think you have a bright future with Agartha, Edelgard. I’ve read some of your published work, there’s much I believe we could accomplish together.”

She shook her head. “You needn’t offer me such flattery just because we’re close. I’m sure there are plenty of other candidates who would do just as well at Agartha.” It was a deflection, an attempt to tell the man “no” without risking her position. It certainly didn’t seem to phase Volkhard, though, whose grin didn’t falter as he retorted.

“Nonsense! Why, you’ve fit in ever since you first came to us. You were adorable in that little AC uniform.” Volkhard had lunged for her weak spot, piercing her defenses with the pointed memory of her lying in bed between treatments, in borrowed clothes and with widened eyes. The recollection was too much, and Edelgard simply stayed silent.

“I hate to run so soon, Edelgard, but I must say I expected you back earlier!” Volkhard sighed, the fact that he had let himself in remaining unsaid, as so much did. She knew these surprise visits well enough to understand that Volkhard’s intentions weren’t casual chats. This was meant to intimidate her, to remind her that there was a leash around her neck and precisely how tight it could be made. Volkhard turned to leave, not bothering to wait for a response.

“Continue your studies, Edelgard. You cannot afford to lose focus now.”

Only when she was sure she could hear his footsteps echoing in the stairwell did Edelgard start to breathe freely again. She swept the towel off of the cage it was covering on her bedside table, revealing a rather perturbed looking gray parrot. He tilted his head before letting out an indignant squawk.

“I’m sorry, Hubert!”

Hubert crowed, spreading his wings and hopping closer along his perch to meet Edelgard’s extended finger. 

“Lady Edelgard! Lady Edelgard!”

Some of the warmth seemed to return to her blood at the sound of her pet’s familiar vocalization. He’d started picking it up after her father gave her the nickname, supposedly inspired by her repeated insistence on being a princess as a child. Emperor, she thought, wasn’t that much of a divergence.

“Did you spook him? I hope so.” Hubert had always hated Volkhard, pitching a fit when he made his presence known in the apartment. That was just another reason Edelgard appreciated the parrot’s company. It was nice to have someone else opposing him, even if that someone was a bird.

“Lady Edelgard.”

After a few moments of nuzzling his head against her fingertip, Hubert retreated back to the center of the cage, likely worn out after an encounter with his most hated rival. The parrot began to drift off to sleep as Edelgard sorted through her Fire Emblem cards, lying them out in rows on her bedside desk. She considered a few substitutions, her Xander had underperformed in the tournament today and she’d seen a new combination of Merric and Linde from Dimitri that she thought she could improve on, but her usual form of escapism didn’t quite distract Edelgard from the reminder Volkhard had given her.

She’d done the same years ago, though she hadn’t known how to play then. She’d kept a box of cards from her father during her time in the hospital, fanning them out before her and making up stories with the characters depicted. Back then she hadn’t known what Agartha Chemical was really doing, that using experimental drugs and risky test procedures, on a child, was among the foulest offenses in the scientific community. She hadn’t known that if she came forward, she could have potentially caused an investigation that would bring the entire company to its knees. But she also hadn’t known how powerful they were, how Volkhard’s money greased the palms of politicians and lawyers around the country, how many victims had tried the same thing and found themselves countersued for defamation or intimidated into rescinding the charges. 

As a child, the solution would be as simple as the heroes on her cards bursting into the room, lifting a young Edelgard onto their shoulders and riding away from the dull grey hospital on their majestic steeds into the sunlight. Her fantasies weren’t so bright now, instead often consisting of her wringing her hands around Volkhard’s neck, or using the pocket knife she kept in her sock drawer to stain his perfect wardrobe with fresh blood.

Either way, though, they were fantasies. And fantasies didn’t come true.

She felt too exhausted to change, and simply kicked her shoes over the edge of the bed before curling up in it, back pressed firmly against the cold stone wall. She dared not close her eyes yet, knowing that invited the nightmares, sad memories twisted by time into horrific visions that would haunt her waking hours. She had a class to teach tomorrow, after all.

Sleep would only make her worse. So Edelgard lay awake, staring out the window and watching the lights of Garreg Mach University flicker off one by one.

It was true that when she stepped into the basement of Nabatea, she was empowered. The Emperor was calculating, ruthless, and stalwart, vanquishing every problem with the swing of an axe or the flickering embers of fiery magic.

Here, however, she was cold, tired, and alone. 

Unfortunately, only one circumstance was real.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! First off, I want to give an enormous thank you to everyone who read the first chapter, left kudos, or commented. When I threw this out there I wasn't sure if it would get completely ignored, but I didn't at all consider that it would climb up to 100+ Kudos in two days. I'm honestly so incredibly flattered I don't know what to do, I was just sorta squealing at my phone and trying not to bother the other people at dinner with me! I did not want to have to explain to them why I was so happy :p
> 
> So it looks like this will be a series, then! I'm very excited to be bringing this to you and I hope you'll all enjoy it. Do I have a plot, you ask? I have an Ending!
> 
> This isn't likely to update too frequently, because I'm also working on another multi-chapter fic and drafting some works for the upcoming Archanea Week. That said, I want to explain some of the choices I've made with this AU.
> 
> -With the choice to make the combat into a card game, I wanted to tone down the levels of angst and violence all around so the mood wouldn't be super out of whack. Thus Dimitri isn't going to be screaming about killing every last one of them, Byleth's father won't be stabbed by a clown, and Edelgard's backstory has had the deaths of her siblings removed. Taking that into account, I softened Edelgard a little bit as well, as she's not quite as hardened by trauma. She's a lot nicer in this story than in the game proper, basically.  
-The "Von"s have been removed from the last names because this story is set in America.  
-Hubert is a bird. In the first draft he was a dog, because he's loyal, but apartments generally aren't keen on dogs. Then he was a rat, but that doesn't mesh well with Edelgard's backstory. Now he's a parrot because I think it's funny. No disrespect to Hubert, he's my favorite scheming slimeball, but it is very fun to make him into animals.
> 
> Any and all feedback is wholeheartedly welcomed! I love hearing from you and it makes my day to know that I can maybe bring a little light to someone's day with this silly story. Have a good one!


	3. Perchance

Monday classes were no better for teachers than they were students. For someone like Edelgard, who was both, they were a special blend of terrible. She endeavored to keep her energy up as she concluded her final lecture of the day.

The dim lights and low buzzing that filled the old chemistry lab certainly didn’t help matters. She paced in front of a whiteboard, pointedly directing a marker towards several notes she’d written on the board earlier and recapping the day’s lesson. Judging by the reactions of her students, about ten of them were actually listening. The two in the back were chatting, the man in the center row was asleep, and the guy in the green cap near the front must have thought she was blind, because he was making almost no effort to conceal the phone he was in the middle of texting on. She didn’t interrupt, however, preferring to continue teaching the people who wanted to learn than waste time trying to drag her lazier pupils into the discussion.

That was the most efficient way to do things, after all. And Edelgard had always valued efficiency. Some students believed that made her boring and uptight, but they were free to do so. Arguing would just be inefficient, after all.

Mercifully, she found herself drawing to the end of the list of concepts on the board and cleared her throat, transitioning into a more casual voice.

“Your reports will be due on Friday at midnight. Make sure you put your name and the class number in the subject line!” The screeches of metal legs against the floor filled the room as Edelgard raised her voice to be heard. “Keep in mind the exam next Wednesday! I will not be offering retakes! Have a good day, everyone.”

Her students filed out in a cluttered mass as Edelgard sank into her seat, gathering up her laptop and the stack of papers that had been turned in today. It looked a little bit thin, but that was just the way assignments that were due on Monday tended to end up. A suspiciously forced sounding cough was enough to get her to raise her head, the tense smile of one of her youngest students coming into view.

“Do you need anything, Serena?”

The younger woman’s face brightened slightly, and Edelgard felt a swell of pride. Many instructors didn’t bother remembering the names of their undergrad students, especially freshmen, but Edelgard had a memory that had managed to hold hundreds of playing card names. Who said hobbies weren’t educational?

“Ms. Hresvelg, I, umm, need to ask a favor…I’m sorry!”

Edelgard put her best comforting face on, not a skill she was particularly well versed in, but something she’d try nonetheless.

“No need to apologize just yet. What is it?”

Serena sighed, looking like the weight of the world was on her shoulders. “I...I need to ask for an extension on Friday’s paper. I, uh, need to go home this week because my mom’s sick, and I...I just don’t know if I can-”

“Calm down.” Edelgard smiled. “Are you so worried because you’ve heard I don’t give extensions?” At Serena’s nod, she chuckled slightly. “Well, it’s true. Typically I don’t. Typically the people who ask are the ones who think they can take advantage of me because I’m young, and don’t expect me to pull up their records and point out the last five times they neglected to turn an assignment in.”

Edelgard quickly pulled up the gradebook on her laptop, mousing over Serena’s name and expanding the list of assignments. Her face brightened as she swiveled the screen to face her student. “You, on the other hand, haven’t had a late submission all semester. You’re attentive in class, and I can tell that you really care about the material.” Serena’s cheeks were going red, which made Edelgard chuckle slightly. “Just try to have it to me by Monday, okay?”

As Serena practically gushed out “thank you”s, Edelgard felt a silent tug of annoyance. Not at her student, she was lovely, but at the fact that someone like Serena would have a harder time finding a position than some of her students who didn’t pay any attention at all, but had a parent in the business already. Her mind wandered to Volkhard and the position he’d carved out for her, clearly yearning to turn his carefully guided puppet into a tool for Agartha Chem’s cruel experiments. She hated it, she hated him, and she often hated the world she lived in. Someday, she thought, she’d do something about it, but there wasn’t much she could do from here. So, for now, she had a power fantasy. That would have to suffice.

A familiar voice hailed Edelgard as she walked out of the science building into the warm embrace of an early September morning.

“My, my, if it isn’t our recently dethroned Emperor!”

Edelgard had little room to talk when it came to taking a little roleplaying too seriously. She had introduced herself as the “Flame Emperor” before, after all, and they’d nearly renamed the Black Eagles to the Red Eagles after the way her cheeks lit up when the opponent just laughed at her. Ferdinand, though, spent every day talking like he was dredged up from a Medieval Times landfill.

“Fear not, Edelgard, for your misstep will not go unavenged! I, Ferdinand von Aegir, would be glad to take your place as Team Captain and shield you from the shame of defeat!”

He was holding his arms out to his sides dramatically as he walked, ignoring the awkward glances he was getting from students bustling to cross the quad. Edelgard knew he was disturbingly good at that.

“Ferdinand, there’s not even a “von” in your name.”

“Technicalities and minutiae, dear Edelgard! Such quibbling is beneath my old rival.”

Much to her dismay, Ferdinand started to walk alongside her, adding his infuriating tallness to the list of things that were bothering Edelgard this morning.

“I hope you are well. It wouldn’t be good for us to lose one of our star players before “Crossroads” is released.”

With everything happening, the upcoming expansion set had nearly slipped Edelgard’s mind, but her excitement made that nearly impossible. Not only were new cards releasing, something she always enjoyed, but a new expansion meant a new league season at Nabatea, and the conclusion of the current one.

“I’m just fine, Ferdinand.” Edelgard replied. She hiked up the shoulder bag she carried her course materials in, weaving through the mid-morning traffic that exploded out of each of GMU’s buildings. “Byleth was an exceptional player, and I was caught off guard. Don’t think that one unexpected loss is going to dissuade me.” She gave a coy smile. “You know I’m just as sick as you are of the color blue.”

Ferdinand grinned, giving his orange hair a little toss. “That’s the Emperor I know. Take care, Edelgard.”

“You too, Ferdinand.”

As much of a hassle as Aegir was to deal with much of the time, Edelgard did appreciate his dedication to the team. Aside from herself, it was hard to find anyone who loved the game and the Eagles as much as Ferdinand. If she had nearly forgotten about the upcoming expansion, it was almost certain the others had. 

Edelgard glanced up and surveyed her position as she walked. She had a few minutes more of a trip before she made it to her destination, which was just enough time to fit in a message to the group chat. She pulled the phone from her jacket pocket and began to text while still walking. It really was more efficient that way.

Black Eagles Chat  
(You are an Admin)

Six Members

[Edelgard]: Everyone, Crossroads releases in two weeks. Please try to keep this in mind, we are very close to taking first place! 

[Caspar]: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: 

[Linhardt]: wooo

[Linhardt]: shouldn’t you be in class caspar

[Caspar]: uh

[Dorothea]: Busted XD

[Edelgard]: Caspar, go to class.

[Dorothea]: Caspar Education Challenge 2019

[Linhardt]: edelgard get stick out of ass challenge 2019

[Caspar]: gottem

[Petra]: ??? What is a Gottem ??? 

[Dorothea]: oh sweetie

[Linhardt]: it means “got them”, like...uh…

[Caspar]: holy fuck i don’t know

[Linhardt]: Neither do I

[Petra]: Oh, I am sorry

[Edelgard]: It’s fine, Petra!

[Petra]: :smile:

[Edelgard]: Everyone, please focus. Are you all open Friday for a strategy meeting?

[Linhardt]: do you mean a party because that’s how these things end up

[Linhardt]: e v e r y t i m e

[Caspar]: fuck yeah dude

[Edelgard]: No

[Dorothea]: Lol! I hear Claude does kegstands at theirs.

[Caspar]: could we talk edelgard into that

[Edelgard]: Strategy Meeting. Look over each other’s decks before the final tournament of the season, discuss weaknesses and tactics.

[Dorothea]: And where will you host this meeting, Edie?

[Edelgard]: I was hoping you’d let us use your place? There’s so much more room because your roommate doesn’t use it. We can always use somewhere public, though.

[Dorothea]: nah you can come over. On one condition.

[Edelgard]: ?

[Caspar]: bring beer

[Linhardt]: “remove stick from ass”

[Edelgard]: Shut up

[Dorothea]: ...Bring beer

[Caspar]: lmfao

[Caspar]: LMFAO

[Edelgard]: : /

[Dorothea]: ;)

[Edelgard]: I will agree to your terms.

[Edelgard]: Petra, are you twenty-one? I know the age is lower at home but it’s 21 here.

[Petra]: I was having my birthday last week, I am 21.

[Caspar]: :eyes: drunk petra DRUNK PETRA DRUNK PETRA

[Linhardt]: drunk petra

[Dorothea]: Drunk Petra!

[Petra]: I will be drunking!

[Edelgard]: I regret everything.

[Caspar]: yeah lin and I are down for that

[Linhardt]: i’ll be there

[Linhardt]: ^

[Petra]: I will be free.

[Dorothea]: Door’s always open for you lovelies <3

[Ferdinand]: Excellent! I will be joining you!

[Dorothea]: not you ferdie

[Dorothea]: you ho

[Ferdinand]: :(

[Dorothea]: jk

With a sigh, Edelgard shut her phone off. It could be a hassle to try and wrangle the Eagles, but a little well-placed alcoholic bribery was evidently still effective. She wasn’t much of a drinker herself, always using the excuse that someone had to keep Dorothea from doing anything too reckless. So no, she would not be doing any kegstands.

She had reached her walk’s destination, a secluded corner of the university grounds. No construction had been done here yet, leaving it oddly pristine for a part of the bustling campus. There tended to be no traffic either, she’d only ever seen the groundskeeper come by to mow the lawn. But there was an old plastic bench that faced a tiny lake, surrounded on three other sides by tall green shrubs. If there was a better place on campus to sit and grade papers, Edelgard certainly didn’t know it.

She sank into the bench, feeling the warm material lightly singe her hands. Setting her bag down, Edelgard retrieved the stack of papers from earlier and slid them into her hands. She uncapped a pen from her pocket and began to survey the first research paper, making light red marks on the pages. She liked to be thorough with her critiques and compliments, so by the time she had completed reviewing the first page of this student’s work, the paper was about halfway covered in scarlet ink. Perhaps she’d gone a tad overboard.

Somewhere between the grading of her second (A-, excellent detailing and sound explanations) and third (D+, please try to spell “chemistry” right) papers, a buzz from her phone yanked Edelgard’s attention away from a student’s discussion of acids and bases that contained a suspicious Wikipedia-esque subscript note. 

[Claude]: Am I invited to your party? ;)

[Edelgard]: It’s a Strategy Meeting. No espionage allowed.

[Claude]: Booooo

Claude’s next message was some sort of bizarre meme Edelgard didn’t understand. That referred to most of them, though.

[Edelgard]: I’m busy, Claude.

She was both surprised and annoyed when the phone buzzed again.

[Claude]: Okay, I’ll get 2 the point.

[Claude]: Are u feeling okay edel?

Edelgard winced. Sure, she had skipped a few meals this month to try and get extra research time in, and perhaps her sleep was even rarer than usual, but she’d thought she was doing well at hiding it. Then again, Dimitri had caught on too. She was evidently a poor liar.

[Edelgard]: Yeah 

But she lied anyway.

[Claude]: does this have something to do with that guy in your apartment last night?

Despite the warm weather, Edelgard’s veins turned to ice. There was a crackling sound as she unconsciously balled a corner of a student’s paper into her fist. Her next response was quick.

[Edelgard]: how did you know about that

[Claude]: I live across the street. Saw ur light on, saw guy in suit walk into your building and turn the lights on in your apartment. Thought about calling the cops until you came back and talked with him.

[Claude]: Is our little princess slinging drugs on the side :O

She wished it was something that easy to explain. But it wasn’t, so she kept lying.

[Edelgard]: It was my uncle.

[Edelgard]: My sink broke and he’s good at fixing them.

[Claude]: At near midnight????

[Edelgard]: Get off my ass, Claude. He’s busy. Why were you watching my apartment? That’s fucking creepy.

[Claude]: Dorothea asked me to make sure you got home safe. Said she was worried about you. I promise, that’s it. 

[Claude]: Edelgard really are you okay?

She didn’t respond. She was angry, angry at Claude, angry at Dorothea, angry at Volkhard, but mostly just angry at herself. If she had any guts she’d tell Claude the whole story, tell the whole campus the whole story, bring Agartha Chem and Volkhard down and damn all the consequences. But that sort of reckless bravado only belonged to the heroes in card games, not grad students who couldn’t even sleep without screaming. The Emperor was a hero, but Edelgard was a coward.

Somewhere in her anger, she didn’t even realize how far she’d slumped against the bench, the grading papers forgotten and pinned under her left arm. She couldn’t work this way, but she had an obligation to her students. A break, perhaps, was in order. She’d simply close her eyes for a moment, take a deep breath, and return to work.

But the sun was warm, like a blanket on her bare skin.

And the breeze was nice, lightly tousling the very tips of her hair in the wind.

And she hadn’t slept in such a very, very long time.

It was always so cold in Agartha’s hospital. She’d asked them to check the thermostat (a word she’d just recently managed to learn to pronounce), but adults didn’t tend to listen to ten-year old girls, especially not ones who were so sick they didn’t understand what was going on. Edelgard was pretty sure she understood, but the doctors said she didn’t, and the doctors knew best. Even a ten-year old girl knew that.

Edelgard had a long day. She’d spent a few hours stuck in the big scanning machine that whirred with a sound like a dragon’s roar, where you had to stay still or the whirring would stop and the assistant would call you a “little idiot”. She’d had to have more blood drawn, getting another poke with the needle half as long as her arm. And she’d had to take another weird pill, one that made her head spin and her legs hurt and eventually stunned her to the point where she couldn’t speak and needed to be carried to bed.

But that was what she thought happened, Uncle Volkhard, who wasn’t her real uncle, but didn’t seem to mind the title, said that none of that happened. It was all part of her overactive imagination, which all the adults said she had.

So Edelgard simply laid in bed, looking wide-eyed at the cream-colored ceiling as the owls hooted outside, waiting for the strange pill that may-or-may-not-have-existed to wear off. She wanted to be able to move her arms and play with her cards, to act out the final part of the story she’d been making up for herself: the brave Prince Marth and his best friend Mordecai were going to challenge the evil wizard Matthew and save the day.

A strange sound came from the foot of her bed. Edelgard had never heard it before, but she couldn’t move her neck right now. It was a sort of squeaking, like the wheels on the hospital gurneys, but wilder, varying in pitch and intensity.

Something sharp slid along her leg, but her shriek was silenced by the numbness in her mouth.

She could see it now, a tiny creature crawling its way up her leg, chittering wildly as it ran. Its tail was long, thin, and hairless, and it felt bizarre on her skin. This, she realized, had to be a rat. She’d never seen one in real life before, but she’d read about them in books. Its claws were digging into her skin, and she couldn’t move. Couldn’t shoo it away. Couldn’t even scream for help.

The rat finally perched near her neck, staring into her lilac eyes with its own deep black ones. She could see its teeth now, fearing they’d sink into her neck. The squeaking was only louder now, ringing off the metal walls and reverberating in her head.

She was trapped, and she knew it.

Edelgard didn’t know how much time passed before the door opened. It felt like an eternity, and motionlessness only made it worse. It was the first time she was actually happy to see the lumbering form of one of her most despised caretakers, an elderly wrinkled man with a perpetual frown. He grumbled as the tiny rodent finally leapt away, scampering into the hallway outside.

“Damn laboratory novices. Can’t even keep their test subjects in a bloody cage.”

He stood over the motionless Edelgard, examining the dials on the machines connected to her bed. She finally managed to eke out a whimper, slowly forcing herself into a sitting position. An eerie grin spread across the man’s face, wrinkled skin parting like tearing leather.

“Oh my. That seemed rather stimulating. Your heart rate is up and the medicine’s side effects cleared away much faster than expected.” He turns to her and she can see the badge around his neck now. Tomas.

“Do you like rats, Edelgard?”

Her mouth is still numb, so she is forced to simply shake her head in response.

“Ah. You’re afraid of them?”

She nods.

“Oh my. Understandable. Can’t stand the beasties myself.” Tomas is clearly replying, but the words don’t seem to be directed towards Edelgard at all. It’s as if they’re floating over her head, out of reach and away from her understanding. “Interesting. Very, very interesting.”

Two weeks later she is taken for another experiment, in a room she will never forget. The walls are the color of eggshells and the floor is the color of iron. The clock above the door is broken, a second hand jittering in place and never moving on. The white table is cold against her back and hard as steel, and her limbs are secured to it with blue nylon restraints. The vital monitoring machine she is hooked up to is black. The pill they drop in her mouth is green. The coat the assistant doctor wears is navy, and the mysterious box he carries is brown.

The man in the navy coat walks to the white table and holds the brown box over Edelgard’s body. When he tips it and the many gray rats come pouring out, the blue restraints keep her from squirming away. The black machine is testing the green pill and Edelgard wants to scream so badly, but she’s afraid the gray rats will climb into her mouth.

So she lies there, staring at the broken clock and keeping in mind that this must eventually end, and she can go back to her cards and her bed and maybe even her dad.

She has no idea that the nightmares will keep her in the eggshell colored room for years to come.

In another world, someone sees a woman lying on a bench, lightly twitching in what appears to be sleep. They try to wake her, but she will not stir.

She puts down her fishing rod, scoops Edelgard into her arms, and starts to carry her body to safety. Unfortunately, there’s nothing she can do for her mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I figured if I was folding a lot of Edelgard's negative traits into her alternate persona, it only followed to put her positive ones there as well. This version of Edelgard doesn't have the same level of courage or dedication as her canon self.
> 
> also nobody has a clever name in Edelgard's group chat because she's set her phone up to just display their real ones. She doesn't get the point.
> 
> I want to thank everyone again for reading and for the lovely comments, they really do make my day. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well, and I would love to hear any feedback you have!


	4. Awakening

As usual, Edelgard woke with a start and strangled a scream in her throat. As her eyes adjusted to the light, she realized that something was very strange. She was fairly certain she’d dozed off on a bench, not in her bed, but there were plush blankets laid over her and a firm mattress beneath her. Even if her memory had been faulty, this wasn’t anything like her apartment. The room she found herself in was completely barren, aside from the bed and a chair in the far corner, and the floor was...rumbling? Yet somehow that wasn’t what confused Edelgard the most. The strangest thing was that she had her arms wrapped around something...fuzzy?

Slowly, she pulled her arms out from beneath the covers, carefully to avoid riling up whatever might have nestled itself against her stomach. Bit by bit, brown fur appeared until finally the offending creature was yanked from its hiding place. Two black bead eyes stared back as she looked at the teddy bear in her hands. Edelgard wanted answers, her mind was racing and her heart was pounding against her chest, but the bear’s empty gaze didn’t promise any information. 

It was ironic. As a child, she’d adored stuffed animals, building miniature zoos on the floor of her bedroom or pretending to be an eagle soaring through the backyard with a plush bird-of-prey in her hands, but ever since Agartha she had stopped playing with them. Stuffed animals were for children, after all, and after that, Edelgard felt that her childhood had come to an immediate close. But here, alone, in an unfamiliar room with an unknown fate waiting outside, she’d take all the comfort she could get.

Edelgard’s cheeks reddened slightly as she raised the bear to her chest and rested her chin on its head. Slowly, she began to rub it back and forth, letting the fur on its ears rub against her skin and squeezing it close. A slight warmth blossomed in her chest as the bear made contact, and she couldn’t help but close her eyes and give in to the sensation. Edelgard Hresvelg was certainly not a “hugger”, but that wasn’t her choice. Not that she’d tell anyone, of course. Contact was just...tricky, after what had happened. But this was a fine compromise, and the relief was surprisingly effective.

At least, it was, until the doorknob suddenly began to jiggle. Edelgard quickly dropped the bear onto her lap and darted her eyes around the room, searching for her bag and the pepper spray concealed inside. It wasn’t there, so she’d simply have to fight them off, and thankfully she’d seen a lot of martial combat in the movies. 

As the door swung open and she prepared to face her kidnapper, Edelgard’s jaw dropped.

“Byleth?”

Wearing nearly the same outfit she had to Nabatea, her deep blue hair spilling over her shoulders, Byleth the mystery card shark entered the room, nodding at her quickly paling guest.

“Hello. You’re awake?”

Stifling the outpour of other questions she had, Edelgard simply nodded, too dumbstruck for much else. Byleth slowly turned, calling out of the room

“Dad? She’s up.”

“Oh yeah?” called a booming voice, seemingly a few rooms away. “We’re almost parked, kid, keep her company for a bit!”

Parked? Was she…

“Am I in a car?”

It wasn’t the most elegant of questions, but it spilled out regardless. Byleth sunk into the chair, looking over at Edelgard with wide eyes.

“Uh huh. An RV, but...uh huh.”

The memories were beginning to trickle back into her head. Edelgard straightened herself, letting the stuffed bear tumble from her lap and fixing her gaze on Byleth. Suddenly, the pieces seemed to be falling into place.

“Did I pass out on that bench?”

Byleth nodded. “I think so. That’s where I found you.” Edelgard frowned, disappointed in herself as Byleth continued. “I was going to fish in the pond and saw you on the bench. You were making strange noises and wouldn’t wake up, so I brought you back here and called the campus infirmary.”

Three hours earlier, someone had knocked impatiently on the door of Byleth and Jeralt Eisner’s RV. The elder Eisner walked to the door and pulled it open, quickly swiveling so the incensed campus doctor could enter. The middle-aged woman wore a pair of sunglasses and a grimace.

“Thank you for coming, Dr. Casagrande.” said Jeralt.

“I’d love to call it a pleasure, Jeralt, but it sounds like that’s uncalled for.” she huffed. “Where’s the patient?”

Manuela Casagrande’s heels clacked quickly along the parked RV’s linoleum floor as Jeralt lead her to one of the vehicle’s two bedrooms. She knocked once with her knuckles before entering, groaning slightly when her eyes fell upon the woman lying in the bed.

“Oh, Edelgard...I should have known.”

Edelgard was nearly motionless, only occasionally squirming or shaking her head. Next to her, Byleth sat and readjusted the blankets with the young woman’s movements, grimacing as she looked up at Manuela.

“Are you the doctor?” she asked.

“I am. Don’t worry, dear, I’ll take it from here.” She winked at Byleth, trying to calm the younger lady down, but that blank expression of hers didn’t change as she reluctantly backed away, making room for Manuela to lean over the bed, pressing her hand to Edelgard’s forehead. As the doctor jostled and fussed over Edelgard, Byleth pressed against the wall and watched with a furrowed brow.

She had expected to spend the afternoon fishing, not trying to resuscitate a stranger. But Edelgard wasn’t a stranger, not exactly. They’d met the previous week at that card shop in the mall, hadn’t they? Her memory was pretty good, she thought, and she definitely remembered Edelgard. She was fun to play cards with, and had welcomed Byleth to the shop like a friend. Or, at least, how Byleth assumed friends did things like that. She wasn’t quite sure.

“What’s the word, doc?” Jeralt asked, his arms crossed and a worried frown on his face.

“Good news.” she replied, quickly straightening herself and beginning to dig through her purse. “She’ll be fine. Just a bit of exhaustion, I think, looks like she passed out. This one’s a hard worker, Jeralt. My officemate is her graduate advisor and I’ve seen the way she runs herself ragged.” She shook her head. “Poor thing seems like she’s having nightmares. Probably stress, but by the way her stomach is growling I’m betting she’s not eating either.”

Jeralt exhaled, casting his eyes towards the floor. “That’s rough. Does she not have cash for food?”

“That’s certainly not the case. Her father’s richer than God, Jeralt. I’d call him, but this isn’t the first time we’ve found her like this, and I happen to know her “Emergency Contact Number” is the delivery line for a pizza place.”

“Why would that be?” Byleth asked.

“Oh, trust me, I see it all the time.” Manuela shrugged. “Students come out here with the intention to get boozed up and then want to make sure their parents don’t find out when I have to pull their sloshed asses out of trees the next morning. Edelgard’s no troublemaker, but I suppose she’s got her reasons.”

Jeralt nodded, but Byleth wasn’t yet satisfied. She wanted to know why this was happening, why someone wouldn’t take care of themselves like that. She didn’t know many people aside from herself and her father, but she was certainly intrigued by them.

“So, what should we do for her, Manuela?” Jeralt asked.

“Oh, just let her get some rest. And don’t let her leave until she’s eaten something! I’ll let Hanneman know she won’t be making it to his class this afternoon, and I’ll start preparing a lecture for when she’s back on her feet.” With a flourish, Manuela turned, the shawl draped over her shoulders flipping dramatically with her sudden movements. She smiled at Byleth.

“Pleasure to meet you, Byleth, and thank you so much for helping this young lady when you saw her. This was very good of you.”

“What about the nightmares?”

Manuela’s grin faded. “I’m sorry, dear, but there’s nothing we can do.”

After her father and the doctor left the room, Byleth found herself unable to stop watching Edelgard. She wasn’t entirely socially incompetent, she knew it was strange, but there was something extraordinarily sad about the woman now occupying space in their spare room. Logically, she knew there was nothing she could do, but the way Edelgard’s once composed and confident face twisted and contorted pitifully made Byleth’s head hurt. 

An idea took root, and Byleth hurried out into the hall, nearly crashing into Jeralt as he stumbled backwards.

“Whoa, kid! Everything good?”

Byleth gave a quick nod, glancing from side to side in the hall. “Yeah. Do you know where my old teddy bear is?”

Jeralt’s eyes widened. “It’s...uh...it’s been a long time, kid, but we don’t exactly live in a mansion, right? Check the only storage closet.”

Without another word to her father, Byleth took the few short steps towards a small door in the hallway. She swiftly pulled the door open and rifled through it, pushing aside a vacuum cleaner, two mysterious plastic buckets, Jeralt’s old running shoes, a discarded bag of mismatched batteries, and the bunched up remains of a stained child-sized coat to reach a small box of old toys in the rear of the closet, where a chestnut colored stuffed arm reached out of the clutter. With a renewed sense of gentleness, she pulled the bear free and began to lightly dust it off, cleaning the faint white coat from the teddy’s brown fur with the sleeve of her jacket.

Jeralt was giving his daughter a strange look as she darted back into the spare bedroom, bear in hand. It certainly wasn’t the strangest thing he’d seen Byleth do, so he let it go.

Approaching the slumbering Edelgard, Byleth was stricken once again by how abnormally slight she looked. The way she had carried herself at Nabatea, Byleth had assumed Edelgard was at least her height, but the pale woman on the bed before her seemed so much smaller. Her slender fingers groped at open air, clenching and unclenching to some unseen frightful rythym. As she lifted the bear over the bed, Byleth felt a surge of embarrassment and unconsciously bit down on her lip. This was silly, wasn’t it? Sure, the stuffed toy had helped her sleep as a child, but this was a grown woman, and one Byleth only barely knew. She’d been trying to act more “normal” around people now that she lived on campus. This was weird. Foolish. Incorrect. So why were her hands already moving and why had she just tucked the stuffed bear into Edelgard’s grasping hands?

For a moment, she thought the other girl would wake up, taking two steps backwards quickly to avoid making it so that the first thing Edelgard woke up to was her staring from above. Edelgard didn’t stir, though, merely groaning slightly as she pulled the bear in close and seemed to curl around it. Byleth would have found it adorable, were Edelgard not clearly in pain. She walked to the end of the bed, which had sat unused before now for many years. She understood that when Jeralt had bought it, it was intended for her mother, but Byleth’s mother had passed away in childbirth twenty-six years ago. As she dragged the blanket that was left at the bed’s edge to cover Edelgard, Byleth hoped that, if the afterlife existed, her mother wasn’t too upset about the stranger in her bed.

Three hours and a few minutes later, Edelgard sat against the headboard with her hands in her lap, trying to process the story Byleth had told her. Her first reaction was a deep sense of shame at how careless she’d been. She’d fallen asleep with her students’ work exposed, and now she was going to miss Hanneman’s afternoon lecture. For someone who had always prided herself on her professionalism, this was a painful blow.

“I don’t know how to thank you, Byleth.” she said. “You didn’t happen to find my bag as well, did you?”

Byleth nodded. “It’s in the kitchen.”

Edelgard breathed a sigh of relief, partially for the safety of her own possessions but mostly for the papers of her students. “You really did help me today, you know. If there’s anything I can do to repay you, please let me know.”

Byleth leaned back in the chair, as if mulling the idea over. The young woman waited a few seconds before looking up at Edelgard, eyes still oddly empty. “Would you play Fire Emblem with me again sometime?”

Chuckling, Edelgard nodded. “Of course! You were a thrilling opponent at Nabatea, you know! I’d never seen some of your strategies before, and I’ve seen quite a few.”

Byleth smiled, but didn’t respond. It seemed the quiet part of her personality wasn’t reserved for public places. Still, Edelgard was very interested in her. She had a sinking feeling that she knew why, but this hardly seemed like the time to confront those particular feelings.

A loud knock sounded at the door before a towering man stepped inside. He had light brown hair and a long scar trailing down his face. It didn’t look to be surgical. 

“Glad to see you awake.” His voice was gruff, but welcoming. “Name’s Jeralt Eisner, I’m one of the new assistant coaches for the GMU Basketball team. It sounds like you’ve already met my daughter, Byleth.”

Edelgard gave a curt nod, swiftly changing gears to focus on reality once more. “I have. She told me about what happened, and I want to tell you both how grateful I am for your assistance. Accepting me into your home was very generous of you.”

Jeralt shook his head. “Think nothing of it, kid. There was no way we were just going to leave you out there like that. Professor Casagrande would have taken my head off at the thought.”

“Oh, yes. I’m sure she’ll have quite a lot to say to me when she sees me next.” 

Jeralt’s face cracked into a grin. “Yeah, you’re on your own for that one. She also gave me pretty strict instructions to get some food in you before we turn you loose again. You alright with porkchops?”

Edelgard held up an open palm. “That’s not necessary, you don’t have to-”

Jeralt gave Edelgard a look that could shatter stone.

“That sounds lovely. Thank you, Mr. Eisner.”

“Jeralt’s fine. Keep her company, Byleth, make sure she doesn’t doze off again, or crawl out the window to get out of dinner.”

Chuckling lightly at his own joke, Jeralt left the room once more, leaving Byleth and Edelgard sitting in silence on opposite sides of the room.

“So...your dad is nice.” 

Edelgard found herself regretting the words nearly as soon as they left her mouth. “Your dad is nice?” Really? Typically she managed to hold herself with a little more poise and wit than that, but perhaps some of her usual ceremony was alright to forego with the woman who had just recently scooped her off a park bench and carried her to bed.

Byleth nodded. “He’s a nice dad.”

At least it seemed like they were both bad at this.

Despite Byleth’s general resistance to speaking, over the next several minutes Edelgard was able to extract the basics from her unlikely savior. She was twenty-six years old, and had spent almost all of those years on the road with Jeralt in an RV of some sort. He was a military veteran who had suffered a terrible injury in combat, and now spent his days traveling the country as a speaker hired to present at events and promote veteran’s affairs.

“I thought he said he was a basketball coach?” Edelgard asked, quirking an eyebrow.

“He is. He said he wanted something stable now. The groundskeeper is an old friend, and he put in a good word for Jeralt.”

“Oh! Mr. Rangelt?” Edelgard had met Garreg Mach’s head groundskeeper once during her undergrad years, although it wasn’t a very dignified encounter. Dorothea had passed out on the campus lawn after a particularly ill-advised date left her with the urge to down three too many shots and lost her purse. They’d spent the next day combing the garden for it and gotten Mr. Ragnelt’s help. He seemed to find the whole affair extremely funny, at least.

Byleth nodded. “Dad played basketball at Garreg Mach when he was young, so I think that’s why the chairwoman hired him.”

Edelgard hummed her assent. “Sounds like her. People like to say Chairwoman Rhea makes strange hiring decisions, but they tend to work out, at least from what I’ve seen.”

Getting Byleth to talk about her interests was substantially more difficult. No matter how much prompting Edelgard did, she couldn’t get more than two things out of her conversation partner: Byleth liked to fish, and she liked to play Fire Emblem with her father. Any further information seemed to be under lock and key.

“I apologize,” Edelgard sighed, “I’ve been asking you so many questions that I haven’t given you any room to ask them of me!”

Byleth stared back. She crossed her arms, uncrossed them, twiddled her thumbs, and coughed before she spoke.

“What are your nightmares about?”

Fighting to keep her expression neutral, Edelgard began scrambling to come up with a lie. It felt a little terrible, given that she had just spent several minutes interrogating Byleth on her life, that the first real response she gave would be a lie, but there was no way around it.

“I often have nightmares that I’m a princess.”

Byleth blinked. “Why is that a nightmare?”

“Because I’m not a normal princess. In the nightmares, people want me to do their bidding. So they chain me up and they cut me open, they put things into my body and whisper in my ears. They have me captive and they’re ripping me apart, night after night, and it feels...real.”

Edelgard could feel goosebumps rising on her skin. It was a lie, a fantasy, but it held kernels of truth. Hooks that she could vainly hope someone would pick up on and help her, but no explicit truths that would break Arundel’s hold and invite his wrath upon her and her father. It was childish, perhaps, but the idea of skirting so close to freedom was too tempting to pass up.

“They want to make me into a perfect ruler. Someone who will stand by and let them run amok, devouring the peace and plunging the world into darkness. And if I say no, they’ll kill me, and they’ll find someone else.”

One of Byleth’s hands raised to her chin as she listened, stroking it gently. “That does sound like a horrible nightmare. I’m sorry you have them.”

Edelgard shook her head. “It’s certainly no fault of yours, Byleth. But thank you.”

“I want to take them away for you.”

There was no sign of mockery or jest in Byleth’s voice, somehow such a ridiculously frank statement came out of her without even changing the vacant expression she wore. Edelgard, on the other hand, was quickly developing a red hot blush, despite her best efforts.

“That’s...very kind of you. I truly do wish that you could.” She tried to smile back, keep her cool, but Byleth simply frowned.

“Did the bear help?”

Edelgard looked to the stuffed toy, its fuzzy legs still poking out from beneath the blankets on the bed.

“You know, I think it may have!” she replied.

Byleth smiled. “I’m very glad to hear that. Maybe there is a way, then.”

All sense of logic and pessimistic experience in Edelgard’s mind immediately surged out to dismiss that statement, the foolish hopes of an awkward woman who clearly could not understand the depths of the situation. Even so, something within her held out, and those kind words refused to drown as so many others had.

It was that bizarre, illogical, frankly silly hope that made Edelgard finally confront it, simply staring at the bear with her cheeks burning as Jeralt called out somewhere in the distance. 

Oh no. She had a crush.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! This is going up earlier than expected! Originally this and the next chapter were supposed to be a single chapter, but I was unhappy with the bare bones nature of a lot of the scenes, so I extended them.
> 
> This means that the next chapter may be a fair bit shorter than normal, but for now, I hope you enjoy this one! Feedback is still always welcome, reading your comments always cheers me up and motivates me!
> 
> Super Secret Author Notes:  
\- The bear is an extended apology for "Come Apart" and another sad story I want to put out soon. That one doesn't even have 3H characters in it but I'm just being thorough.  
\- Manuela is wearing heels but nobody has the audacity to question them.  
\- Jeralt and Byleth have watched "Space Jam" over twenty times on a rickety VCR.
> 
> Just as a slight warning, writer's block is really kicking my butt right now, so I just wanted to warn in advance that the next few chapters in my ongoing stories may be slow. I don't want to rush out something low quality, that feels irresponsible!


	5. Your Dad Is Nice

Sitting at a dinner table was weird, wasn’t it?

Edelgard couldn’t recall the last time she’d done it. It had to have been before Agartha, she’d spent weeks in her room after that, afraid to be out in the open where someone could snatch her up and drag her back. During her High School days, her extra curricular activities kept her away from home and made it so she ate most of her dinners either in her car or on the bench in front of the school. And then, of course, she’d never bothered with a table in her dorms or apartments at university. Maybe she’d simply forgotten how to use one?

So it was odd that she now found herself in a wooden chair before a circular table inside of the Eisner’s RV, watching as Jeralt plated the pork chops he’d pulled from the oven. She hadn’t even known RVs could have ovens, really.

“Need help?” Byleth asked. She was sitting across from Edelgard, her hands folded on the table and her eyes fixed on the tiny kitchen area and the disproportionately large man who was occupying it. He waved her away.

“Nah, I got it, kid. You can clean up when we’re done if you’d like.”

Soon Jeralt came stomping over, three plates of sizzling meat in his hands. He carefully set one in front of Edelgard before distributing the other to his daughter and dropping the last at an empty seat. He reached under the table, and Edelgard could hear the click of a plastic latch and the rustling of ice before he held a dripping silver can in front of her.

“Do you like beer, Edelgard?”

“I do.” she lied. She actually wasn’t a fan, but she certainly wasn’t going to impose on Jeralt’s hospitality any more than she already had. She took the can and cracked it open, watching as Jeralt took his seat.

“I cannot thank you two enough.” Edelgard said, glancing at both Eisners. “I do not mean to impose on your home and your mealtime.”

Jeralt scoffed. “You’re fine, kid. We weren’t going to leave you out there or let you go hungry.”

Byleth nodded, but said nothing, although her gaze didn’t leave Edelgard.

“I promise you, this won’t happen again.” Edelgard fought back the shame pushing at her face. “Finding myself in that sort of position is not something I do often.” She was powerless. Alone and powerless. She swore she’d never be powerless again.

If Jeralt had a retort, he seemed to hold it back, simply spearing one of the porkchops on his plate with his fork and raising it up, beginning to eat. Byleth mimicked the motion, and Edelgard felt slightly out of place cutting her meat into pieces with a knife and fork. It tasted wonderful, once she got around to eating it. The pork was tender, there was a light and tangy garlic flavor seemingly cooked into every bite, and it was seasoned just enough to be tasteful but not overpowering. The fact that it was the first food that hadn’t come from a wrapper Edelgard had eaten in about a week certainly didn’t hurt matters. 

“Sorry if the place is a bit more of a mess than you’re used to.” Jeralt muttered, between gnawing bites. “I washed the whole thing down, but we took a little road trip last month to the Greenwoods. It might still smell like pine needles and dirt.”

“I like that smell.” Byleth stated.

“It’s quite alright.” A curious smile spread across Edelgard’s face. “Did you spend all that time in the woods?”

Jeralt nodded. “Yeah, we try and get out every few months. Byleth and I are travelling so often that it helps to just get away from things for a while, y’know?” Byleth’s face lit up as Jeralt spoke, nodding deeply with a chunk of porkchop in her mouth. Edelgard took a sip of the beer, instantly regretting the way it ran bitterly across her tongue. She and Dorothea had once spent most of an evening trying every bit of alcohol the actress could scrounge up in an attempt to find something Edelgard would like, but came up empty. Or at least, Edelgard thought they did, they both may have been too tipsy to actually notice.

“Enough about us, though.” Jeralt had finished his first porkchop, and he was pointing the cleaned fork in Edelgard’s direction. “What are you up to, Edelgard?”

“Oh!” She had assumed this was coming. It would have been rude to have asked so many questions of the Eisners and not expected any in return. “I’m a graduate student at the university. I teach some of the undergrad chemistry classes.”

“Interesting.” Jeralt mused. Byleth quirked her head.

“Are you going to be teaching for a living?” she asked, and Edelgard wished to any higher power out there that she could say yes.

“No.” slithered from her mouth, burning on the way out. “I’ve actually had an offer made for me upon graduation. There’s a chemical supplier that wants me as a research director.”

“Huh. Well, I’m afraid I don’t know much about that sort of thing, but it sounds like a pretty nice gig.” Jeralt returned the fork to his plate, beginning to devour his second porkchop. “Whatever makes you happy, kid.”

Edelgard forced a smile on, as she so often had, and nodded at Jeralt, silently relieved that this line of questioning seemed to have passed. “I’m quite happy, thank you.” When she caught Byleth’s eye, she noticed the slight frown on the woman’s face and the sadness in her wide eyes, and immediately realized something potentially horrifying.

She wasn’t fooling her.

The rest of the dinner passed without incident. They made small talk around the table, touching lightly on the weather, the quality of the dormitories, Byleth and Jeralt’s wilderness trips, and Jeralt’s old friendship with Alois the groundskeeper. None of these topics were dangerous, so Edelgard didn’t mind talking about them, letting it take her mind off of the fear building in her heart that Byleth would somehow learn her secret. At least, it felt like fear.

By the time Edelgard finished the last bite of her meal, Jeralt and Byleth had clearly been done for a while. Byleth rose quickly, rubbing a napkin between her hands. “I’ll start putting things away.” she said, beginning to gather up the plates. Jeralt nodded at his daughter before glancing at Edelgard, pointing towards the back of the RV’s main room.

“We put your bag over there. Want to make sure everything’s still in it?”

Concerned about her students’ papers, Edelgard got up and walked to the rear wall. Her tote bag had been laid out on an old leather couch that seemed to be riveted to the floor, appearing to be closed up but otherwise mostly untouched. She didn’t want to worry about the Eisners taking anything, they were lovely people, but a bit of paranoid fear did admittedly poke at the back of her mind, and she hated herself for it. Of course, as she opened the bag and began to rifle through it, everything was present. There was her phone, the binder she kept her research for Hanneman in, the stack of halfway-graded student papers, and of course, her favorite deckbox, emblazoned with the plush black eagle. As she opened it to check on her cards, (some of them were quite valuable by now!) she was surprised by a sudden chuckle from Jeralt.

“Oh, yeah, Byleth told me you played Fire Emblem.” She hadn’t even noticed that Jeralt had followed her over until she saw him there, his arms crossed and a smile on his face. “She mentioned you were pretty damn good, too.”

Edelgard smiled. “I certainly hope so. I’ve put very much effort into it.”

Jeralt looked over his shoulder, Edelgard following his gaze. Byleth had gathered up the plates and silverware and was beginning to hand-wash them in the sink, along with a sizable stack of other bits of cookery that had to have been remnants from earlier meals. “Looks like Byleth’s gonna be busy for a while. Care to humor an old man with a game?”

While Edelgard hated to continue abuse the Eisner’s hospitality, “Edelgard” wasn’t always the one making that choice. No, of course, when it came to Fire Emblem, she was the Emperor. 

And the Emperor never passed up a challenge.

Jeralt played Fire Emblem like he was trying to break down a brick wall with a wooden stick. His Lord was Greil, Heroic Exemplar, and his entire deck seemed to be focused around beating down his opponents with pure overwhelming force.

“Elbert and Lorenz!” he crowed, setting down a pair of cards featuring a redheaded nobleman and an old general with an eyepatch. He immediately rushed them towards Edelgard’s Lord, already putting him in a fair amount of danger. It was the second turn of the game.

As Edelgard looked over the cards in her hand, trying to decide if she should weaken the newly present units with a barrage of Meteor fire or play it safe by deploying Hardin to protect Emperor Arvis, Jeralt made small talk.

“Byleth didn’t scare you when you woke up, did she?”

Edelgard’s eyebrow quirked as she gently slid Hardin onto the table.

“No, not at all.”

Chuckling, Jeralt pulled his defeated warriors back, neither having made much of a dent in Hardin’s stellar defenses.

“That’s good. Heh. When she was younger she used to wake up before I did and just wait for me to get up. Can’t tell you how many times the first thing I saw in the morning was a pair of wide blue eyes starin’ down…”

Edelgard giggled as she made her next move, a sharp contrast to the mental image of the Emperor ordering her loyal Paladins to put a violent end to her weakened foes. 

“That does sound like Byleth…”

Upon glancing up, Edelgard noticed a pair of thin cords dangling from Byleth’s ears as she worked, occasionally gently shaking or twisting as Byleth vigorously scrubbed at a mug with a pink washcloth. They connected to her phone, which peeked gently out of the back pocket of her jeans. Edelgard noticed all of this because she was wondering if Byleth could hear their conversation, and certainly not because her eyes were somewhat drawn to Byleth’s backside.

Jeralt hummed to himself as he looked over the table between him and Edelgard, his face contorting as he surveyed the board. “Huh. Never seen some of these cards before. Dunno who the hell “Ryoma” is, but he seems pretty effective.”

“Oh! That’s actually a promotional Ryoma from the Hoshidan Dawn release back in 2015. I had class and couldn’t make it to the official release event, but I was able to buy one on the secondary market a few months later. I wouldn’t recommend it now, though, the price has surged, but it might go down a bit soon, he’s not very popular in the metagame anymore. Unless Crossroads makes a pure Swords team viable again, but that seems like a long shot.”

Edelgard had about three more sentences of elaborating on her opinions about the spoiled Crossroads cards left in her, but Jeralt’s eyes were already wide, and she could feel the pangs of nerd-shame starting to creep up her neck. “Sorry.” she muttered.

To her surprise, Jeralt didn’t seem bothered at all. A smile broke out on his weathered face, and the veteran laughed a deep belly laugh, his hands shaking as he continued his distracted play. “No need to apologize, kid. I just don’t often get to hear that much excitement in this house. Byleth does the same thing with stuff she’s excited about, just not so...quickly.” The man glanced over his shoulder quickly, noting Byleth still hard at work on the dishes. When he turned back, his expression was soft. “Honestly, I can see why she seemed so pleased to meet you. You’ve got a lot in common.”

“Is that so? Excellent.” Edelgard fought to keep both her expression and tone of voice utterly neutral, despite the joy that was leaping inside at hearing that Byleth was “pleased to meet” her.

“I’m serious.” The laugh had stopped, and an expression of mild concern filled Jeralt’s face. “I know she’s an adult now, but I guess the parental instincts don’t go away. Byleth…” He checked over his shoulder again. “Byleth can be kinda quiet, and I worry that she didn’t have enough contact with kids her age growing up. That’s my fault. And if we’re going to be putting roots down here, I want her to have friends.”

The imposing figure of Jeralt Eisner sagged his shoulders, suddenly looking small even to Edelgard.

“So thanks for being kind to her. Sometimes people aren’t. That’s all.”

Edelgard nodded. “Of course. She’s a remarkable woman, Mr. Eisner.” Her head was swimming with feelings and thoughts and potential interjections and fears and ideas and explanations and sympathy and pain and Oh Dear God everything was starting to pile up and so Edelgard retreated to the one thing that absolutely made sense in the world.

“Canas casts Luna towards Greil and I’ll play a Spirit Dust from my hand to render it immune to interrupting abilities. I win?”

After surveying the board, Jeralt shook his head. “Uh. Yeah. Good game. You creamed me.”

Admittedly, a little bit of Edelgard had wanted to throw the game to her gracious host. But The Emperor never showed mercy.

After Byleth finished with the dishes, Jeralt had offered to drive Edelgard back to her apartment. She attempted to decline, but the man had a glare that could make an alligator weep. Unfortunately, he certainly seemed apt to use it on unwitting grad students unwilling to accept charity. It was sitting on the couch with Byleth, scooping her cards back into their crimson carrying case, that Edelgard suddenly remembered the whole reason she’d wanted to see Byleth again in the first place.

Or, as it may have turned out, one of two reasons. Not that she’d ever tell Dorothea. But it was time to seize her chance, as Jeralt drove. Edelgard straightened in her seat, putting on her best formal facade.

“Byleth, I wanted to extend an invitation to you.”

“Hmm?” Byleth turned to her, still wearing a neutral expression. “Yes?”

“So, our Fire Emblem League at Nabatea is a Team League. That means whenever you win a sanctioned match at the store, typically in the Thursday tournaments, your team earns a point, and the team with the most points at the end of a given season is declared the victor.”

Byleth was slowly nodding, her attention still rapt even with these most basic of details.

“There are three main teams that compete at Nabatea. The newest one is the Golden Deer, they’re captained by Claude Riegan. The current points leaders are the Blue Lions, lead by Dimitri Blaiddyd.” Edelgard sat a little taller before continuing, unfurling a smug smile. “The oldest established team at Nabatea, with the highest number of recorded season victories, is the Black Eagles. I am their captain, and I found you to be an incredible player, Byleth.” She extended a hand in Byleth’s direction. “I’d like to invite you to join the Black Eagles.”

The next few moments of consideration felt like minutes. Byleth tilted her head back and forth, as if milling Edelgard’s words over in her head.

“Is attendance required every week? My dad might need my help sometimes.”

“Oh, of course not, we have members who show up once a month, honestly. It’s not a big deal.” (She didn’t mention chewing out Linhardt for napping through so many tournaments during the Shadows Of Valentia season that they managed to come in dead last.)

“Is there a prize for the winning team?”

Edelgard grinned. “Their logo is displayed on a banner above the counter for the next season.”

“...Anything else?”

“...No.”

Was lasting glory on the cardboard battleground not worth anything anymore?

Byleth nodded. “Okay. I’d like to join.”

“Excellent!” Edelgard felt her heart soar at the news. “Unfortunately, we won’t be able to count your points during this season, since there’s a rule against adding players mid-league.” She scoffed. “Ever since Claude bribed a bunch of the visitors during Homecoming to sign up on the Deer and they kept beating eachother for free points...” 

Byleth chuckled at this flagrant abuse of the system, but nodded. “That’s okay. Can I still play?”

“Of course! And if you beat some of the Deer or the Lions...they still don’t get points…” Edelgard reached for her phone and leaned towards Byleth. “Do you mind if I get your phone number? We have a group chat I can add you to, I believe you’ll enjoy meeting the other Eagles!”

Slowly, Byleth reached out and gently took Edelgard’s phone into her hand before passing her own over. As Edelgard navigated to Byleth’s contacts menu, she frowned.

Contacts

dad

pizza

hospital

police

She felt a little proud to add her own number, breaking the symmetry a tad with a capital letter. When Byleth finished her work, they swapped back phones and Edelgard quickly hopped into the Group Chat.

Black Eagles Chat  
(You are an Admin)

Seven Members

[Edelgard]: Everyone, we have a new member, it is my pleasure to introduce Byleth Eisner!

[Dorothea]: :O

[Byleth]: hello

“Can they all read this?” Byleth whispered.

“Yes, they can.”

[Ferdinand]: Greetings, Byleth!

[Linhardt]: hey

[Caspar]: heya newbie!

[Petra]: Hello!

[Dorothea]: Welcome!!!

[Byleth]: hey all. thank you.

[Edelgard]: She’s going to be joining officially next season, but for now she’s a probationary member.

[Linhardt]: lol thanks for that claude

[Ferdinand]: When can we meet you, Byleth? Will you be attending the party?

“Oh!” Edelgard turned to Byleth with a smile. “We’re having a party...err...a strategy meeting on Friday at Dorothea’s apartment. Would you like to attend?”

“I...I think I would.”

“Great!”

[Byleth]: if i can come sure

[Dorothea]: Of course you can! I’ll send you my address <3

Private Message from [Dorothea]: OMG EDIE THIS IS HER

Private Message to [Dorothea]: Yes, it is indeed!

[Caspar]: looking forward to meeting you byleth

Private Message from [Dorothea]: ...Have you made out yet? :p

Private Message to [Dorothea]: shut the fuck up dorothea

[Linhardt]: say, aren’t you the one who beat edelgard last week?

Private Message from [Dorothea]: <3 <3 <3

[Byleth]: yes

[Edelgard]: >:(

[Caspar]: holy shit you beat edelgard????

[Petra]: Oh my, you are the one who publically slapped Edelgard’s bottom!

[Linhardt]: O.o

[Ferdinand]: What

[Dorothea]: PETRA THAT IS NOT WHAT I MEANT WHEN I TOLD YOU THAT

[Dorothea]: AOJFJIJIFOEJHIOEFSAOJI

Private Message to [Dorothea]: Your days are numbered.

[Byleth]: ?

Thankfully, mercifully, by the grace of any and all higher beings that may or may not exist, it was that moment at which the RV stopped moving.

“Alright, think we’re here!” Jeralt called, and Edelgard was quickly on her feet and moving for the door. Byleth followed until she reached the exit of the RV, Jeralt emerging from the small room that housed the vehicle’s controls.

“Take care, Edelgard.” he called. “Keep yourself healthy, okay?”

“I will.” She turned after opening the door, extending a hand to shake with both Jeralt and Byleth. “I owe you both very much. Thank you again.”

“No problem, kid.” Jeralt replied. Byleth nodded.

“Will I see you at Nabatea on Thursday, Edelgard?”

She frowned. “Sorry, Hanneman’s got me working late with him, so I’ll have to miss it, but I’ll see you Friday for the party!”

With a nod, Byleth stepped back. “Okay. Goodbye for now.”

Edelgard finally left the RV, waving pleasantly to the Eisners until the vehicle started to make its way down the street once more. It was a typically somber autumn night, the warm sun from the early morning replaced with a thick sheet of dark clouds and chill. Across the street, a light flicked off in a window as Edelgard made her way up the front steps and into the apartment building. She nearly ran up the stairs, the last dregs of adrenaline pumping her weary legs to the door of her apartment. As she unlocked it and entered, the frenzied squawks of a parrot greeted her.

“Lady Edelgard! Lady! Lady Edelgard!”

As Edelgard leapt onto her bed, she excitedly swung her body in the direction of the birdcage, preparing to give her pet the dinner he had missed.

“Hubert, it’s been quite a day.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading, as always. The feedback this story is getting continues to shock me every day, and I'm absolutely honored that so many people are enjoying this. If it makes your day better, at all, I think it's worth it. Feel free to leave any comments as always!
> 
> Super Secret Author Notes:
> 
> \- If you guess the theme of Jeralt's deck I'm sorry.  
\- Byleth's phone case is covered in mysterious dirt stains and it permanently smells like the woods.
> 
> Secret Author PSA: Hey, I wanted to "break character" a little bit here to mention something that's been on my mind. Three Houses is obviously a game designed to present a myriad of characters with different viewpoints and attitudes, giving the players a lot of different characters to relate to. That's an awesome thing, but I've seen it get a little hostile. I've seen some comments lately on other stories bashing characters or fans of those characters, and that kinda bums me out. It's of course just fine to dislike a character! I just don't much like the idea of going up to someone who clearly does enjoy them and saying "you're wrong and should feel bad." That's shitty.
> 
> I most often see this with Edelgard for, uh, several reasons, but I've seen it towards all the Lords and most of the other characters too. I'd just like to ask that you refrain from bashing anyone in the comments for this story (I'm not super worried about it happening with Edelgard because I figure if you don't like her you're not reading the AU starring her :p). And obviously I cannot tell you what to do, but I'd like to ask you to just please think twice before leaving comments like that elsewhere too, due to who might read it. Fandom and video games are supposed to be for fun, not dividing us over our fictional allegiances to fictional characters in a fictional world. 
> 
> There are, of course, much larger problems in our everyday lives, but this is supposed to be a retreat and I hope we can try to get along and enjoy it.
> 
> anyway in the next chapter edelgard is going to throw dorothea into a dumpster for her Crimes in this one


	6. Text Logs

Monday

[GMU Health]: Hello! \\(o.o)

[GMU Health]: This is Mercedes with GMU Health! \\(‘o’)/

[GMU Health]: This is a followup message from your treatment this afternoon with Dr. Casagrande! We care about your well-being here at GMU, and we want to make sure recovery is going smoothly! (o.o)d

[GMU Health]: I see that you’ve been struggling with exhaustion! Oh no! (O.O)

[GMU Health]: We recommend lots of fluids and healthy snacks, as well as ensuring that you get a good night’s sleep! /(-_-)\ zzzz

[GMU Health]: If you have any questions, please feel free to visit our campus office at Macuil Hall! I hope you have a lovely day! Go Garreg Mach! \\(o.o)/

[Lysithea]: Edelgard, this is Lysithea Ordelia from your Graduate Advisement course with Professor Hanneman. We heard you were unable to come to class today, so I have scanned a copy of my notes and sent it to your student E-Mail. I hope that you are feeling better.

[Edelgard]: Thank you, Lysithea. I apologize for the inconvenience, it should not happen again.

[Lysithea]: It is alright. You’ve given me your notes when I’ve been too ill to attend class before! Just please take care of yourself, alright?

[Edelgard]: I will, thank you Lysithea.

[Lysithea]: You are welcome.

[Lysithea]: Hey Edelgard?

[Edelgard]: ?

[Lysithea]: nvm

[Edelgard]: Okay

Tuesday

[Edelgard]: What do you have to say for yourself?

[Dorothea]: i regret nothing : ) : ) : )

[Edelgard]: Where are you

[Dorothea]: Secret!

[Edelgard]: I am out of class and on the hunt, I will toss you in a dumpster

[Dorothea]: I’m far too tall for you to lift, dear.

[Edelgard]: I will hang you from my apartment window by your ankles.

[Dorothea]: Had weirder party experiences, trust me.

[Edelgard]: I will delete every single pirated musical recording from your laptop.

[Dorothea]: YOU

[Dorothea]: BITCH

[Edelgard]: Do not underestimate what I will do, Dorothea. You do not comprehend the darkness that lurks within my heart.

[Dorothea]: nerd

[Dorothea]: I’m at rehearsal btw, are you still coming to the show this weekend?

[Edelgard]: I will certainly be there.

[Dorothea]: Edie <3

[Edelgard]: You will have nowhere to run.

[Dad]: Hi there, El.

[Dad]: It’s Dad.

[Dad]: I hope everything is going well at school. Volkhard tells me your grades are excellent this semester. I will always be so proud of you. I’m sorry I still can’t make it to campus, the doctors say I need to stay in bed for another month at least. It is unfortunate, but I’ll push through. I always have.

[Dad]: My fingers are shaking a lot more lately, so I had to have Volkhard use my phone to transcribe this message.

[Dad]: (Hello, Edelgard.)

[Dad]: You are my sun and stars, El. I can’t wait to see you again.

[Dad]: Please keep working hard, you have a promising career ahead of you. I love you.

[Dad]: (He does ;))

[Byleth]: hey

[Edelgard]: Hello!

[Byleth]: how are you

[Edelgard]: Good, just finishing lunch.

[Byleth]: your eating :)

[Byleth]: meant you’re

[Edelgard]: Indeed. Monday was

[Edelgard]: Eye-opening

[Byleth]: please keep safe

[Edelgard]: I will. Thank you.

[Byleth]: will you be open tonight

[Byleth]: want to play fire emblem?

[Edelgard]: Ugh, I’m so sorry, I have a class to teach in a half hour and then I need to go to this gala thing Agartha Chem is putting on.

[Byleth]: oh

[Byleth]: okay!

[Edelgard]: So sorry X.x

[Edelgard]: oh wait

[Edelgard]: looks like the gala got cancelled, didn’t see the email

[Edelgard]: Will you be free in two hours?

[Byleth]: yes!

[Edelgard]: May I ask where you’ll be parked? I was rather out of it.

[Byleth]: uh huh

[Byleth]: by the groundskeeper’s tool shed in the southwest corner

[Edelgard]: I know where that is. I will see you after class!

[Byleth]: :)

[Byleth]: btw why did petra say that weird thing in the chat

[Edelgard]: sorry class time

[Edelgard]: I apologize for swearing at you.

[Claude]: huh

[Claude]: Oh yeah

[Claude]: all good

[Edelgard]: I was simply unnerved by the thought of being watched. I did not realize Dorothea was concerned.

[Claude]: tell you what

[Claude]: wear a shirt to the crossroads release that says “I love the Golden Deer” and we’re square

[Claude]: i can give you one i have extras

[Edelgard]: Not on your life.

Wednesday

Black Eagles Group Chat  
(You are an Admin)

Seven Members

[Caspar]: and lin just tossed it like

[Caspar]: Y E E T

[Caspar]: OUT THE ROOM

[Caspar]: ONTO THE GROUND

[Ferdinand]: Oh my.

[Petra]: Oh dear.

[Dorothea]: DSJFOFJIS

[Dorothea]: LINHARDT NOOOO

[Linhardt]: that alarm clock never did shit for me

[Linhardt]: this was a better death than it deserved

[Edelgard]: That seems like a waste of an appliance…

[Linhardt]: got a phone, good enough

[Byleth]: hello

[Petra]: Hello!

[Caspar]: Sup!

[Dorothea]: Heyyyy

[Edelgard]: Byleth! Wonderful to hear from you! What are you up to today?

[Byleth]: fishing

[Caspar]: Oh yeah? Where?

[Byleth]: lake

[Ferdinand]: What lake are you speaking of?

[Byleth]: campus lake

[Petra]: Oh! I know of the lake you are speaking of! I have fished there previous! I hope to join you sometime?

[Byleth]: sounds fun!

[Caspar]: did you fish a lot back home, petra?

[Petra]: Yes! Fishing is very popular inside Brigid. As child, I was living very close to the coast, so I did it very much!

[Dorothea]: Ooh, that’s cool, Petra!

[Edelgard]: Byleth, it was very enjoyable visiting you yesterday.

Private Message from [Dorothea]: ;)

[Edelgard]: To practice Fire Emblem.

Private Message to [Dorothea]: shut up

[Byleth]: yes it was!

[Byleth]: i think you found some cool synergy

[Byleth]: with roy and gerik, that could be extremely powerful

[Ferdinand]: Really? I always thought Roy was extremely outdated...his stats are insufficient in comparison to recently released sword infantry units (Gregor, Hana, etc.)

[Edelgard]: Yes, I reached the same conclusion. But Byleth and I went through the legal pool of swords and found that his ability synergizes well with Gerik’s, and less decks will be teching against him. I believe it will be a strong surprise strategy at the release event.

[Linhardt]: huh. good work byleth.

[Ferdinand]: I have several Roys and Geriks I have not used. I would be glad to loan them out if anyone would like to try implementing them.

[Petra]: Thank you, Ferdinand!

[Ferdinand]: My pleasud, Petra!

[Ferdinand]: *pleasure

[Caspar]: pleasud

[Linhardt]: pleasud

[Dorothea]: pleasud

Private Message from [Byleth]: what’s going on?

Private Message to [Byleth]: They’re mocking his spelling mistake.

Ferdinand: :(

[Linhardt]: uh caspar is screaming

[Dorothea]: ????

[Linhardt]: oh shit

[Linhardt]: he stepped on the clock remains

[Dorothea]: RIP

[Petra]: Oh my.

[Linhardt]: i’m gonna go help him with the bandages

[Petra]: I should leaving as well, must go to class.

[Dorothea]: Same, gotta knock on the roommate’s door and see if she wants any takeout.

[Edelgard]: Have you told her about the party? I don’t want to frighten her.

[Dorothea]: she knows, she said she’s gonna spend the night on her computer

[Ferdinand]: I hope she knows she is welcome to join us.

[Dorothea]: She does, she just...doesn’t want to

[Dorothea]: Nothing personal

[Dorothea]: she’s just not good with people

[Edelgard]: Poor thing.

[Ferdinand]: Unfortunate. Perhaps I could strike up a conversation from outside of her door and explain the benefits of socialization!

[Dorothea]: so imma leave now

[Dorothea]: ferdie i like the enthusiasm but that’s some dumb shit byeeeee

[Ferdinand]: :(

Thursday

[Dimitri]: Edelgard, your mysterious opponent is at Nabatea again!

[Edelgard]: Oh? Interesting.

[Dimitri]: I’ve been considering asking her to join the Blue Lions. Would you mind?

[Edelgard]: Not at all. Go for it!

[Dimitri]: Thank you.

[Dimitri]: You are terrible

[Edelgard]: ;)

[Edelgard]: you snooze you lose dimi

[Dimitri]: I detest you.

[Edelgard]: You told me that when we were ten

[Edelgard]: and I drank your juicebox at lunch

[Dimitri]: You still owe me a juicebox, Edelgard. I will collect one day.

[Edelgard]: try it

[Edelgard]: Ugh. Campus internet is shit.

[Dimitri]: Hanneman still got you on the research grunt work?

[Edelgard]: Yeah. Google Scholar for days.

[Dimitri]: A shame. Professor Gilbert has entrusted me with more hands-on material lately.

[Edelgard]: Well, of course, you teacher’s pet.

[Dimitri]: I would argue with you, Edelgard, but I don’t want to be distracted from my matches. 

[Edelgard]: I suppose you’ve got me there.

[Edelgard]: I should get back to my work as well. Good luck, unless you’re paired with one of the Eagles. Then bad luck.

[Dimitri]: Charming as always. Goodbye, Edelgard.

[Nabatea CS]: Hello! This is Nabatea, we just wanted to let you know that the new shipment of limited edition Fire Emblem: War For Jugdral cards you had enquired about is in!

[Edelgard]: Thank you, Seteth. Could you set aside one of the foil Sigurd cards for me? I will pick it up tomorrow. 

[Nabatea CS]: Sure! I’ll let the boss know.

[Edelgard]: Thank you. I appreciate it, Flayn.

[Nabatea CS]: Not her either! I’m a new hire, actually!

[Edelgard]: I see. Congratulations on the new position! 

[Nabatea CS]: Thanks!

[Edelgard]: May I ask for your name so I can inform Seteth that you helped me?

[Nabatea CS]: Of course. I’m Monica! Have a lovely day!

[Edelgard]: You as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed that little surprise bonus chapter! I wanted to do something special to show how thankful I am for the awesome support this story's getting (it broke 400 kudos what the HECK), so I decided that instead of just time-skipping this week, I'd deviate from the outline and try to outline the events like this! It's a little experimental, we're a chatfic for one chapter :p Hopefully it's at least still fun to read?
> 
> While I'm here, I want to take the opportunity to shout out a few of my favorite Three Houses fics! This is a little list of some great fics, along with rating information and trigger warnings.
> 
> (If you're one of these authors and you are uncomfortable with this, please let me know and I will remove it for you!)
> 
> "All The King's Men" by scatteringmyashes (Teen Rating, some language, gore, and sexual jokes)  
https://archiveofourown.org/works/20480501/chapters/48597932
> 
> This AU fic focuses on the Blue Lions (+Byleth) as an MMO Guild. The story mostly centers around their experiences playing the game, but you get to see into the characters' real lives as well, as Byleth tries to unravel the mystery of their father's death. There's a lot of great comedy from the characters' personalities, like Sylvain being repeatedly banned for flirting and Dedue learning to use kitty emojis, but trauma shines through as well as Felix struggles with his transphobic father and Dimitri tries to see what is real through a sea of trauma-induced hallucinations. Awesome atmosphere.
> 
> "weighed and measured inside" by bergamot (madocallie) (Mature rating, lots of body/medical horror, a surgery is described)  
https://archiveofourown.org/works/20693411
> 
> I'm still not over what happened to Edelgard. Are you over what happened to Edelgard? After reading this, you probably won't be anymore! The author really does a fantastic job of capturing the sterile, unfeeling nature of the way the Agarthans have turned a certain princess into their weapon. It's honestly just spectacular.
> 
> I hope you'll give one of my recommendations a try, and I just want to say thank you again for reading!


	7. Up All Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, just as forewarning, this chapter contains a fair amount of alcohol use! I don't want to promote excessive drinking, I'm only trying to capture the atmosphere of a college party. If you have to skip this chapter, I totally understand, let me know in the comments and I'll gladly provide a synopsis <3
> 
> Enjoy the extra-long chapter!

The radio in Edelgard’s car blared as she drove out of Garreg Mach’s campus, but she didn’t hear a word of the song. While she liked playing the radio, she’d never claim to be a big music fan. She just felt rather uncomfortable in complete silence, something she worried she may have picked up during her time between experiments at Agartha, but hoped was just a personality quirk.

Her mind was occupied instead by a carousel of thoughts, circling in the background as she focused on the road ahead. The case of beer clinking around in the passenger’s seat was hopefully not the brand Dorothea liked, she hadn’t quite been able to recall. She did, however, remember the vow she once made to never buy Dorothea beer that she actually enjoyed, lest the “Great Halloween Incident” ever reoccur. So that was a slight concern. 

There was also, of course, the full list of cards in the Crossroads expansion that had released that morning. She’d already downloaded the spoilers to her laptop and begun highlighting the new cards she thought would be potential fits in any of her decks or catalysts to create a brand new deck, and hoped to compare and contrast her opinions with those of the other Eagles tonight at the party. However, the thought of trying to both stop a drunken Caspar from ripping his own shirt off and explain to him the merits of a Cavalry Control Strategy centering around the newly released “Hardin, Coyote” seemed like a losing proposition.

Curiously, or perhaps not too curiously at all, was the thought that seemed to jam the carousel, getting stuck in her mind from the western end of campus with its science buildings all the way to the east side with the student housing. Byleth’s wide eyes and deep blue hair constantly hovered at the edge of her thoughts. 

Byleth clearly wasn’t someone who socialized often, and according to Jeralt, didn’t have much experience with groups of peers at all. Edelgard hadn’t noticed her talking to anyone else during her visit to Nabatea either. Edelgard’s lips seemed to purse of their own volition as worry crept into the seams of her mind. She hadn’t just sent Byleth somewhere she wouldn’t be comfortable, had she? That anxiety didn’t seem to subside despite how many other potential issues for the night she mentally pored over, and it only spiked as she pulled into the parking lot outside of Dorothea’s apartment building and took a glance at the front gates.

There, sitting on a bench, her hair falling in drizzles across her face, was the woman in question. She wore a dark green skirt and a red hooded jacket that seemed to bring out the color of her eyes. 

Edelgard nearly swore at herself as she realized she’d thought about that. The color of her eyes? Really? A reminder of the doom she’d suddenly found herself trapped in reverberated in the back of her brain.

The crush was getting worse.

As Edelgard left the car behind, laptop bag slung over one shoulder and case of beer hefted up with both hands, she called out to Byleth.

“Hey there!”

Looking up, Byleth smiled, waving slightly as she stood and jogged over, beginning to walk side-by-side with Edelgard.

“Hello, Edelgard. Am I in the right place?”

“You are!” She hiked the case slightly higher, silently cursing the way it sunk in her hands as she walked. “Do you not have the apartment number?” Sheepishly, Byleth shook her head, and Edelgard swiftly spoke up again. “It’s fine! I do, you can just follow me, okay?”

“Yeah. Okay.” Byleth replied. She motioned towards Edelgard with open arms, eyes on the package of drinks. “May I?”

“Sure!”

In one smooth motion, Byleth snatched the case from Edelgard’s hands. She grunted slightly as she passed it entirely into her right arm, curling it around and hefting the package onto one shoulder. Edelgard fought to keep her jaw from colliding with the asphalt.

“You’re...strong.”

“Oh. Thanks. I...uh...fish.”

The discussion of Byleth’s fabulously toned arms and the rippling abdominal musculature that surely lurked beneath the fabric of her jacket went unspoken, thankfully. Edelgard was fine with not embarrassing herself too badly before the evening even truly began.

She’d just stand back and wish she was that case of beer for a little while.

Thankfully, Dorothea’s apartment wasn’t too high up, but Edelgard doubted it would matter too much to Byleth. She continued carrying the drinks as if they were nothing, nodding and “mmm”ing along to Edelgard’s small talk. Byleth didn’t ask any questions of her own until they stood in front of Apartment 402, staring into the brown oak door.

“So...um...can we just walk in, or…” Byleth’s brow was knit with a sudden bout of indecision. Edelgard smiled, approaching the door.

“I don’t think Dorothea would mind, but I like to do these things properly.” She raised a hand and rapped her knuckles against the door.

“Who isssssssss it?” trilled a singsong voice, muffled only slightly by the wooden barrier.

“It’s me and Byleth, Thea.” Edelgard called back, shooting her companion a reassuring smile. A few moments later, the handle began to jiggle lightly before the door swung open, revealing a grinning Dorothea Arnault in a stunning sapphire gown. She was the type to dress up for her own events.

“Edie! Glad you’re here!” The actress grinned as she swiveled her head to face Byleth, fully immersed in what Edelgard knew to be her “charm mode”. The traditional batting of the eyelashes only confirmed that. “So, here you are in the flesh! Fantastic to get to meet you in person, Byleth!”

“Thank you.” replied the wide-eyed woman, looking quite a bit like a deer in the headlights. Dorothea’s demeanor softened as she ushered the pair of guests in.

“Byleth, dear, could you please put the drinks on the table in the TV room? Feel free to make yourself at home, all the rooms are free to explore! Except the locked one!”

The entrance lead directly into Dorothea’s kitchen, a cramped little affair mostly filled with a myriad of boxes taking up counter space. Still, there was room for a dining table and a path to the refrigerator, which was currently being occupied by a young woman with her violet hair twisted tight in an updo.

“Hello to you, Edelgard!”

“Petra! Come on, we’re just dropping off the drinks.”

Petra wove her way around the crowded kitchen, following Edelgard and Byleth into the central lobby of the apartment. An old television displayed a talk show in the rear of the room, but it was being totally ignored by the two men seated on the floor in front of it, as well as the one lying on his back off to the side. Instead, all attention was on the new arrivals, and perhaps more importantly the parcel one of them carried, singing its siren song of plastic jingling.

Caspar scrambled to his feet, letting out a cheer. “Beer’s here, up and at ‘em everyone!”

The case was dropped onto the central table with a clunk, and the Eagles converged in a horde, immediately ripping open the case and pulling out a can each, except for Edelgard, who took none, and Caspar, who took two.

“Oh, hey!” exclaimed Caspar, raising both fists and the beverages clenched in them, “This has gotta be Byleth!” The young man next to him sighed deeply, pressing a few fingers to his temple.

“So did you notice her before, or did the thought of shitty beer just obscure your vision?”

Ferdinand scoffed. “Honestly, you two, is this the first impression you deem worthy of the Black Eagles?” Ignoring the outburst from his friends (“We’ve been talking in chat for like a week, dude!”), the elegant student extended a hand with a flourish, grinning in Byleth’s direction. “Ferdinand Aegir, student of Business Management, pleased to make your acquaintance.” As Byleth carefully shook Ferdinand’s hand, Dorothea emerged from the kitchen and began to walk around the crowd of Eagles, pointing at each as she went.

“Caspar Bergliez, Sports Medicine, Linhardt Hevring, something or other with books, Petra MacNeary, exchange student from Brigid and PoliSci major, you already know Edie’s deal, and I’m Dorothea Arnault! I do the Theater thing, you know.” She took a triumphant swig from the can in her hand, smiling at Byleth.

“Nice to meet you all. I’m Byleth. Eisner. Byleth Eisner. Not studying.” A few of the Eagles giggled as the last words came out of the newcomer’s mouth, but quickly stopped when it became apparent that Byleth wasn’t trying to be funny. Noting the awkward pause, Edelgard pounced.

“Well, if we’re all present, I hereby call this pre-Crossroads release Strategy Meeting to order. Is everyone prepared for a discussion?”

“Can we be drinking?” Petra asked, can already at her lips.

Edelgard sighed. “Yes. I suppose you may.”

Just as she anticipated, Edelgard’s best-laid-plans fell to ruin within the first fifteen minutes of the discussion. She had managed to hold order and keep everyone more or less focused on Fire Emblem until an advertisement for an upcoming film began to play on Dorothea’s TV.

“Ugh!” Dorothea exclaimed, clenching her fist and making the plastic can in her hand crinkle, “I can’t believe the movie version of “Gallio and Onna” is coming out two days after we wrap our show.”

“Doesn’t the extra advertising help?” Ferdinand asked.

“You’d think so! But no, people just assume that they’ll be the same thing, so they save their money and pick the movie instead. It’s not the same! It’s not even a musical!”

“I can’t blame them.” Linhardt offered. “It’s just more convenient to see a movie than go to a stage show.”

“So...back to the cards…” Edelgard said, slightly louder than was necessary.

“Why, Lin? Why is it more convenient?” Dorothea asked.

“You can watch it at home!” Petra said.

“Exactly.” muttered Linhardt, raising his palms. “I can watch movies in bed. Can I bring a bed to the auditorium, Dorothea?”

“You can’t just nap through a performance! It’s disrespectful!”

“What if I’m tired?”

“What if you’re a dickhead?”

“BOOM!”

“Shut up, Caspar, I spent ten minutes pulling glass out of your feet on Wednesday, you have to be on my side.”

“Oh yeah. Sorry, Dorothea, I like movies better too.”

“You’re all artless. Artless heathens.”

“Everyone, may we please return to discussion of Crossroads?”

Then Petra belched, and everyone started to cheer about it, so Edelgard sighed and put away her laptop. Linhardt was right. These did always just devolve into parties.

As the evening went on, Edelgard kept a close eye on Byleth. She knew it wasn’t her responsibility to be the woman’s social babysitter, but she couldn’t help but feel like lending a helping hand was the least she could do after Byleth had been so caring when she passed out. Thankfully, she couldn’t have picked a better crowd to introduce her to. Byleth seemed to be enjoying herself making conversation with the Eagles, sitting on the couch with Caspar and Linhardt and listening intently as they discussed classes with Ferdinand. 

While she and Dorothea had been roommates, Edelgard had met the rest of the Eagles over her time as an undergrad, and knew they were all pleasantly outgoing. By the time Byleth had risen from the couch to chat with Petra, who had already finished her first two drinks and seemed undaunted by the third, Dorothea had sidled up next to Edelgard.

“Can we talk?” she asked, smiling brightly. The longer Edelgard looked at the grin, the more predatory it appeared.

“...In private.” Edelgard replied.

With a wave of her hand, Dorothea lead them into a small hallway at the rear of the lobby. The remainder of the apartment’s rooms were here, with a small bathroom waiting at the end of the hall and a door on each side. One was ajar, revealing the red wallpaper and plush black carpeting of Dorothea’s bedroom, but the other, as always, was closed. As the pair entered Dorothea’s room, the actress beckoned her into a corner.

“So…” Dorothea asked. “How’d you find her?”

Edelgard sighed, brushing a few locks of white hair out of her eyeline. “It’s a bit of a long story. Are you sure you’d rather not hear it later? Over text, perhaps?”

Crossing her arms, Dorothea scoffed. “Dear, you’ve been refusing to tell me in text all week! And you know that Ferdie’s just sitting in there talking about that time he went horse riding again. That story will last at least another twenty minutes. Spill, Edie.”

And spill she did. As Edelgard recounted Monday’s events, from the bench to the bed to the dinner table, Dorothea was perfectly silent, simply nodding along.

“...and so that’s how I ended up getting a ride back to my own apartment with Byleth and her father. I’m lucky I have my own parking space, I suppose.”

As she finished, Dorothea sighed.

“I’m torn, Edie. Don’t get me wrong, I’m over the moon about you finding your mystery rival so soon, and her turning out to be a lovely person as well. That’s fantastic. I’m just worried about you passing out again.”

“Again? What do you mean?”

Dorothea pursed her lips. “Don’t act like I’m stupid. I remember finding you on the couch at our dorm a couple of times, and I know you well enough to know you aren’t the type to take casual naps.”

As Edelgard looked away, Dorothea sighed and slowly moved her hand near Edelgard’s shoulder. When Edelgard nodded, she brought it down, gently squeezing. “I just want you to take care of yourself. You matter to us. How’s your dad?”

“He’s getting worse. He says his fingers are shaking bad now, someone had to text me for him.”

“Who?”

“Randolph, his assistant.”

Edelgard hadn’t told Dorothea about Arundel. She didn’t plan on telling Dorothea about Arundel, she didn’t need to get involved.

“I’m sorry, Edie.” Dorothea withdrew her hand and gave a reassuring smile. “Just please remember that I’m here for you, rain or shine, day or night.” The smile widened. “If you aren’t already seeking a little comfort in those muscular arms I saw on the way in...unnff!”

“And, with that, I think we should be getting back to the party.”

With a chuckle, Dorothea began to exit the bedroom, a relieved Edelgard close at her heels. A sudden resounding crash from the locked room brought both of them to a stop. Edelgard raised her eyebrows at Dorothea, tilting her head towards the door. Frowning, the actress pressed herself against the door, ear to the wood. 

“Hey, everything okay in there?” she called.

There was no response.

“Do we need to find a key and get in?” Edelgard asked. Dorothea shook her head, holding up a single finger. A few moments later, a bubbly text tone blared from Dorothea’s phone.

“She says she’s fine. Just knocked a box off of her desk.”

“Oh. I see.” Edelgard couldn’t help but be curious, but she wanted to respect Dorothea’s reclusive roommate’s privacy. For as long as she’d been at this new apartment, which was around a year to the best of Edelgard’s memory, Dorothea had been occasionally mentioning the rather bizarre living conditions of her companion. Evidently she was a Graphic Design genius, but almost never left her room. There was a bathroom in there, so that wasn’t an issue, but Dorothea had mentioned that she didn’t quite know when she was leaving the apartment or how she even went to class.

The thought of being cooped up by herself in a lonely room, again, almost caused Edelgard to shudder. But that was the roommate’s choice, so she stomached it, simply moving on and walking back towards the lobby and the sound of Ferdinand’s enthused voice. Surprisingly, it didn’t sound like he was going on about horses.

“Astounding! I’ve never been beaten so quickly!”

As Edelgard and Dorothea entered the room, the other Eagles were bunched up near the coffee table in the center of the couches. A game of Fire Emblem was unfolding, and to Edelgard’s eye, looked to be already finished. On one end, Ferdinand’s Lord, Cain, was absolutely surrounded by an array of bizarrely mismatched units. Byleth sat at the other side of the table, calmly moving yet another card to Ferdinand’s side of the board.

“Gordin makes a ranged attack on Cain, ten damage?”

Ferdinand chuckled. “Of course. You’ve won!”

The surrounding Eagles applauded as Byleth reached across and shook Ferdinand’s hand. Petra turned to Dorothea and Edelgard as they approached, her eyes wide.

“Edelgard, I can see how she was beating you! Byleth is very skilled!”

“I’m quite aware.” Edelgard replied, a grin rising across her cheeks. “We only stepped out briefly and she’s already taken down Ferdinand?”

“Crushed Caspar too.” Linhardt added. Caspar was leaning forward with his elbows on his knees and a hand on each cheek, eyes wide.

“Holy shit, dude. You shouldn’t be this good at a game, it’s illegal. A crime, Byleth. This is a CRIME.”

She looked taken aback, paling slightly as she sank back into the couch. This level of attention, Edelgard surmised, had to be something entirely foreign to someone who had lead as secluded a life as Byleth. Thankfully, her own experience teaching left Edelgard with a few ideas.

“Byleth,” she asked with a gentle smile, “would you like to help me instruct the others on some strategies? They seem happy to learn from you.”

“Really?” Byleth’s eyes were wider than usual.

“Of course!” Dorothea added, seeming to pick up on Edelgard’s strategy. “Byleth, dear, you have a gift for this! You should be proud!”

As a chorus of assorted affirmations rose, Byleth gave Edelgard a curious look. She returned with a nod, and a determined crease formed on Byleth’s brow. She stood, brushed herself off, and walked next to Edelgard. 

“Show me the new cards.” she said, a slight grin of confidence rising through the confusion. “Let’s figure this out.”

Dorothea was absolutely right, Byleth did have a gift. She may have been a bit shaky and shy when it came to social topics, but with one of her interests at the forefront it was almost like the reclusive woman transformed. Edelgard, in fact, almost couldn’t get a word in edgewise, which was rare for her. She didn’t mind, though, she also found herself picking up on some combinations and synergies that she’d completely missed looking the spoiler over alone. 

The Eagles, of course, didn’t simply sit in silence and listen, they butted in with their own thoughts or ideas, but when Byleth seemed a tad overwhelmed, Edelgard would step in. She knew how to pacify Caspar, rouse Linhardt, encourage Petra, restrain Dorothea, and even navigate her way through Ferdinand’s verbose declarations. It was less “instructing” like she did with her class, and more of a collaborative effort that involved substantially more input, as well as substantially more alcohol. Edelgard couldn’t help but grin as Byleth spoke, an eloquence and confidence she hadn’t seen before simply bursting out of her. Some of it was, admittedly, the crush talking, but she was extremely pleased to see her mysterious new friend doing so well and looking so happy.

Jeralt had said that often people were unkind to Byleth. Edelgard had never held much of a high opinion of “people” anyway.

Clearly, they were missing out.

By the time they had exhausted the list of Crossroads cards, Edelgard’s list was full of brand new notes and the moonlight had begun to trickle in from the kitchen window. The lobby, lit only by the TV screen, was substantially quieter now, with most of the partygoers sprawled across whatever couch surface would fit them.

Ferdinand still sat straight up, though his head was tilted slightly downwards. Caspar and Linhardt shared a couch, tangled in a mess they hadn’t bothered to undo after Caspar had declared a surprise wrestling match and leapt upon his unsuspecting (and unimpressed) roommate. Petra was sprawled across Dorothea’s couch, her head in the older woman’s lap as she mumbled about something unintelligible. Clearly a talky drunk. Dorothea brushed her fingers through Petra’s hair as she babbled, nodding and whispering as if she understood every word. Edelgard and Byleth occupied the remaining two couches, watching in silence until Ferdinand spoke up.

“I am afraid I must depart, everyone. I must board the bus back home posthaste! Thank you for hosting, Dorothea!”

A few minutes after Ferdinand’s departure, Linhardt and Caspar called a cab and left, volunteering to pay to have Petra dropped off as well.

“I worry that if we leave her like this she’s gonna end up taking a nap in the GMU fountain on the way home.” Linhardt quipped.

“Uh, Lin, didn’t you do that once?”

“Shut the hell up, Caspar.”

Soon, Byleth and Edelgard were alone with Dorothea, who was looking substantially tipsier than she seemed to plan on being. Strands of sweaty hair clung to her perfectly blushed cheeks, and she wobbled a bit in her seat.

“I think you should go to bed, Dorothea.” Edelgard said, frowning at her friend. “You’re looking a little green around the gills over there.”

“Pssh. Psssshhhhhhhh, Edieeee.” she replied, winking (?) in response. “I’m at the top of my game! Alsoooo...I can’t get up!” 

Dorothea tumbled onto her side, and Edelgard sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose as she looked to Byleth. “I hate to ask this of you, but...can you get her legs?”

“Oooohhhh…” Dorothea said with a giggle, “she can have ‘em!”

Byleth simply laughed and joined Edelgard next to the couch. Between the two of them (mostly Byleth), the actress didn’t weigh much, and they were able to easily transport her into her bed as she called out bizarre mixtures of bad pickup lines and advertising taglines.

“Is she...always like that when she’s drunk?” Byleth asked as she and Edelgard departed Dorothea’s room.

“No. It’s usually a little worse!”

As she settled onto the couch, Edelgard pulled a blanket from its place bunched up on the arm and dragged it over herself, unfolding her laptop from its position. Noticing Byleth watching in silence, she spoke up. “Oh! Would you like me to call for a rideshare to take you back to campus? I know you may not have the app on your phone, but I’ll gladly pay for you.”

Crossing her arms, Byleth tapped her foot, seeming to think the proposal over. Unlike Dorothea, she seemed utterly unaffected by the alcohol, but Edelgard knew full well that wasn’t a reason to let someone drive. Had Byleth driven? Did Byleth have a car? Before she could finish thinking about that, Byleth replied.

“It’s alright. I thought...I thought I was staying the night, so I told Jeralt to lock up the RV. I’ll bet I can wake him, though. Goodnight, Edelgard.”

With that, she turned and began to leave.

“Wait!”

Edelgard sighed.

“Dorothea won’t mind if you stay the night!”

“Are you sure that’s...okay?”

“Absolutely positive, trust me. I’m staying too, just to make sure she’s alright in the morning.” Edelgard pointed to the couch across from the one she was lounging on. “Do you think you can sleep there?”

Slowly padding over, Byleth surveyed the couch. She nodded. “Yeah. I do.” As she climbed onto the couch, Edelgard returned her attention to the work on her laptop, smiling slightly to herself for making sure Byleth wasn’t going to sleep in the grass or something.

“Hey Edelgard?”

“Yes?” When she returned her gaze to Byleth, she saw her bundled up in a blanket, covering her entire body in a swath of red cloth. Even in the low light, it was clearly absolutely adorable.

“Do you think the others liked me?”

“Of course.” The response was instantaneous, not even requiring a thought. “I’m not the type to sugarcoat things. You really did do well.”

Silence engulfed the room for a few more seconds.

“Thank you. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Byleth.”

Sleep, as always, was a contentious concept for Edelgard. She understood its necessity, especially after the park bench incident, but the world of her dreams was cruel, and falling asleep felt much like falling back onto a table, where straps would bind her and needles would prod at her and rodents would scurry across her flesh. So she skirted the edge of sleep like a pool on a hot day, dipping a toe in but pulling back whenever it started to feel too comfortable. It was a skill she’d spent a long time honing, much to her dismay.

When she walked the line between sleep and waking she lost track of time, so Edelgard didn’t know exactly when it was that she heard the door creak open. Dorothea, she thought, must have been on her feet again, likely headed for the bathroom. Hopefully not to vomit.

The footsteps, however, defied her. They were headed in Edelgard’s direction, away from the bathroom entirely. And they definitely weren’t Dorothea’s. While her old roommate walked in long strides, these were short and staccato, coming faster than a usual walk would. Although Edelgard’s eyes were shut tight, she could tell someone had just entered the room. A soft voice rung out, barely a whisper but...singing?

“Midnight snack. Midnight snack. Midnight snack for Bernie!”

This, Edelgard realized, had to be the mystery roommate. If she’d even noticed her presence on the couch, she made no note of it, so Edelgard chose to stay quiet and keep miming sleep. Better that than to scare her. Still, once the voice had drifted to the other side of the room, she did risk it and open her eyes, just a tad.

It was difficult to make out in the darkness, but as the figure stepped into the moonlight of the kitchen, she could clearly see a slight woman with a disheveled mop of violet hair. She wore a pair of baggy sweatpants and what appeared to be a hoodie as she walked towards the kitchen, still humming the words to her made up song. Edelgard glanced over at Byleth, expecting to see her still asleep, but to her surprise, it almost looked like Byleth wasn’t even there.

Oh wait.

She wasn’t.

The front door of the apartment opened, and Edelgard could just make out the crimson color of Byleth’s jacket as it drifted into view.

The roommate jumped what appeared to be several inches into the air, jamming her hands against the doorframe. The song had abruptly stopped.

“Th-th-thieeeeeeeeeeeeef! In-in-intruderrrrrrrr!”

Edelgard imagined this had to have been meant to be a scream, but it came out strangled and weak, and really ended up as more of a high-pitched whine.

“Wait. No.” Byleth responded, but the recluse continued to protest on in her earpiercing tone.

“Ifyou’reamurdererjustmakeitfastpleaseidon’twanttobestrangledthatwouldbetheworstifyouhavetostranglemefineiguessjustletmegetasnackfirstalliwantedwassomechocolatetheni’llgoquietlyohgeezohgodineverthoughtit’dendlikethisidon’tknowwhosentyoubuti’msorrywhateveritisi’msorryicanbribeyoucanibribeyouihavesomejewelrythatmightbevaluableandacomputerandsomevideogamesandmaybeevensomemoneyfrommydadbuti’dhavetocheckohnoi’msosorrythisissomuchand-”

Byleth’s protests didn’t seem to be getting through, so Edelgard sighed and rose to her feet, approaching slowly in an attempt not to frighten the roommate any further.

“It’s okay. We’re friends of Dorothea.”

Despite Edelgard’s caution, the roommate still leapt into the air again at the sound of her voice, slamming herself against the doorframe with wide eyes.

“Y-y-you’re what?” she stammered. Byleth cast Edelgard a pleading glance, at a loss for words.

“I’m Edelgard Hresvelg, that’s Byleth Eisner. We’re friends of your roommate, Dorothea. We were here for the party, but decided to stay the night since Dorothea’s slightly inebriated.”

That was the diplomatic way of saying “goofily plastered”. Edelgard was always good at finding the diplomatic way to say things like that.

“Oh. Okay. Okay, give me a sec. Okay.” With her breathing slowing and her shaking transitioning to a simple frozen stillness, the mysterious recluse seemed to be calming down, to a point. She still looked as if she might dash past Edelgard and flee back to the safety of her room at any moment. Edelgard was inclined to let her, she certainly didn’t want to keep her here if this was uncomfortable. Byleth, however, seemed to have other ideas.

“What’s your name?” she asked.

The roommate’s eyes went wide again, and Edelgard prepared to dodge out of the way of a purple-headed missile. Thankfully, her nerves seemed to hold out.

“Bernadetta. Bernadetta Varley.” She stood a little taller now, showing that when she wasn’t shrinking into herself, she was a bit taller than Edelgard. Byleth nodded. 

“Why didn’t we see you at the party?” she asked.

“Uh. I’m, you know, n-not a party person. I prefer...staying in the room. My room.”

“Understandable!” Edelgard added, hoping to cut off the conversation before Byleth’s naive nature could lead her to step over any more lines.

“Why do you stay in your room?”

Bernadetta’s eyes narrowed, and her hands moved for the hood of her jacket. “Because it’s, y’know, safe in there. Less people. Less to be afraid of. Can I, uh, please get to the fridge?”

“Why are you afraid of people?” Byleth asked as she slid out of the way. Edelgard wanted nothing more than to be able to tell her to stop asking questions, but she assumed that running over and clamping a hand over Byleth’s mouth would only frighten Bernadetta more.

“That’s...uh…” Bernadetta stammered as she walked to the fridge, opening it with a trembling hand and quickly snatching a chocolate bar from the top shelf. She held it close to her chest like a penguin protecting its egg, complete with the waddling as she started to make her way back to the lobby area. “They can hurt me.”

“We won’t hurt you. Edelgard is very caring.”

This time it was Edelgard’s heart that jumped in her chest. She just came out and said it? Like that? Sure, it wasn’t a confession of love or anything, but something about Byleth’s tone seemed to harmonize with her heartstrings.

Ugh. This wasn’t the time.

Bernadetta didn’t seem to think so either. She scoffed. “That’s...that’s what they all say.” The look on her face was troubling. “I’m gonna go back to my room now.”

Now Byleth got the point. She had to. There was no way that-

“Wait.”

Oh dear.

Byleth reached out, causing Bernadetta to flinch backwards. “Please,” she said, “don’t be afraid of us. Are you afraid of your friends?”

Bernadetta’s knees seemed to sag a little, and she jammed her hands forcefully into the pockets of her sweatpants. “I...I don’t really have...friends.” Edelgard felt a pang of guilt for the reclusive woman. She looked to be around Edelgard’s age, and she couldn’t fathom making it through her undergrad degree without Dorothea and the other Eagles. Solitude had clearly taken a toll on Bernadetta.

“I’d like to be your friend.” Byleth said. The words came out as if they were the most natural thing in the world, and the request wasn’t strange at all.

“You wouldn’t.” Bernadetta fired back. “I’m...uh...I don’t leave my room. We couldn’t...hang out or anything.”

Byleth nodded, frowning. For a moment, Edelgard thought they’d reached a dead end. However, Byleth had another plan.

“I could add you on my phone. That way we can talk while you’re in your room. Do you have a phone?”

Slowly and carefully, Bernadetta reached into her jacket pocket and revealed a pink-cased cell phone. With a deep breath, she began to approach Byleth, holding the phone at full arm’s length in front of her.

“If...if we do that...can I go back to my room?”

“Of course.” Byleth responded.

As they swapped phones, Edelgard quickly retreated to the table and picked something up, returning as swiftly as she could to see Byleth and Bernadetta returning eachother’s devices, contacts now fully updated.

“Bernadetta?” she said, barely more than a whisper, but it was still enough to make her visibly flinch.

“H-huh?”

Like a trophy, Edelgard held up her prized Black Eagles deckbox, pointing to the embroidered logo with a single finger. “You made this, didn’t you?” Recognition flashed in Bernadetta’s eyes.

“Oh! Oh yeah. I, uh, I did. Dorothea asked me to, and she’s always so nice. She doesn’t complain when I eat her food, she slides me my mail under the door...so I was glad to. Do you like it?”

“I adore it.” Edelgard said, smiling wide. “Would you mind if I got your number as well? I’d love to talk some time, I have a few other ideas for projects. You’d be paid, of course.”

Bernadetta nodded quickly. “Of course! Sounds good! But, uh, can you get it from Byleth? I really, really want to go back to my room!”

Following a nod from Edelgard, Bernadetta breathed a sigh of relief, just before rushing back into the darkness of the lobby.

“Okaythankyouitwasverynicetomeetyoubothgoodbye!”

After the slam of a door, Edelgard smiled, giving Byleth a look of pride.

“You handled that really well. I’m impressed!”

Byleth shrugged. “I just said what was true.”

Of course, that was what happened. That was how Byleth worked. She was blunt and soft-spoken, but no deception or cruelty seemed to come from those lips. For someone like Edelgard, who had lived her life with one eye constantly open, it was both completely confounding and utterly relieving. She had no idea how she’d managed to find a friend like Byleth, but she was beginning to think it was one of the best events of her life.

“So, why were you outside of the apartment?” Edelgard asked, trying to shift the topic before any color could rise to her cheeks.

“Oh.” Byleth replied. “I needed some fresh air. I’ve, uh, never slept this far off the ground before.”

Edelgard giggled.

“I suppose that makes sense.”

She was a wonderful mystery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Secret Author Notes:
> 
> -The beer is called "Immovable Light".  
-There was no music because Dorothea always wants to play show tunes and Edelgard doesn't like it. Nobody else likes it. Except Petra, who likes everything.  
-Linhardt slept on one of the benches NEAR the fountain, but Caspar likes to exaggerate the story.  
-Ferdinand's horse riding story really isn't that interesting but everyone obliges him because he gets very grumpy otherwise.
> 
> I am planning on perhaps doing a spinoff story for this fic! No promises yet, but I'm curious as to what characters people may want to see more of in this AU. Feel free to let me know! I have a few ideas of my own ("Dimitri Goes To The Zoo" and "Dorothea And Bernadetta Go Out On The Town And Then IMMEDIATELY Back To Bernie's Room"...which are working titles) but I'd love to hear yours!
> 
> I probably sound like a broken record by now but the interest you've all shown in this silly little story so often makes my day. It's been a rough month, but this is helping keep me positive! I greatly appreciate every lovely comment I get, and I hope you continue to enjoy the fic!


	8. Masquerade

It was rare that Edelgard had what she would truly consider a “day off”. Even on the weekends, she was often so consumed with graduate work or preparing lesson plans that she found her spare time in short supply. Her efficient scheduling only went so far, as evidenced by the fact that she’d begun thinking talking to Hubert was an acceptable form of socialization. So, when Saturday had presented itself as open, with her Monday classes cancelled and her most recent paper for Hanneman complete, Edelgard found herself with a rare luxury, utterly free time.

After departing Dorothea’s apartment and making sure the hostess herself was properly sobered up, Edelgard returned home to feed Hubert and then set out for her safe haven.

Nabatea was a ghost town during the early afternoon, even on a weekend. The store was quiet without the din of its usual crowd, the strained melodies of some holiday song playing over the radio, even though it was October. Edelgard didn’t mind terribly much: while she disliked complete silence, a sense of solitude was often calming, especially after a very social evening.

As she entered the front doors of the card shop, she glanced over to meet Seteth’s eye, only to be met with empty air and that accursed Blue Lions banner.

“Hello, Edelgard!”

Edelgard glanced down from the banner at the sound of the cheerful greeting, now noticing the much more diminutive figure that waited in Seteth’s usual place. His daughter, Flayn, was standing there, her bright green hair tied in long braids and framing the beaming smile on her face.

“Oh! Good to see you, Flayn.”

Flayn, Seteth’s daughter, was a common face at Nabatea. The enigmatic store owner didn’t like to talk about his personal life, even to his most valued (and profitable) customers, so Edelgard didn’t know much about her living situation, or her mother. She assumed that Seteth was a single father, though, given how often she’d seen Flayn coming straight to the store after school. She was always exceptionally kind and cheerful, so Edelgard was never bothered by her presence. Flayn had even managed to pick up a little Fire Emblem skill, so she played casual matches with the patrons from time to time. Today, however, the thing about Flayn that caught Edelgard’s eye was her gray T-shirt, and the familiar logo and acronym that decorated the front.

A nylon dragon was emblazoned on the fabric, with a stylized “GMU” caught between its claws.

“Flayn, did you get in?” Edelgard asked excitedly.

Looking near full to bursting with emotion, the younger girl rapidly nodded her head.

“I did, Edelgard, I did! I will be attending Garreg Mach University next semester!”

“Congratulations!” Edelgard responded. She hadn’t even realized Flayn was in the process of looking at colleges to attend until the month before, when Seteth was thumbing through a catalogue during the Thursday tournament. His eyes had flashed with optimism when he talked about sending his daughter to GMU, and evidently it wasn’t simply a father’s wish. She did have a feeling he'd be happier with her not going out of state, though. Edelgard had never been an overtly celebratory person, but Flayn’s excitement was contagious. She allowed herself to give a whoop of support. Just one, though.

“What brings you here today, Edelgard?” Flayn asked. She tried her best to look professional, but it was somewhat difficult because she could barely see over the register. Not that Edelgard had much room to talk on that front.

“Oh, I wanted to browse the singles. I’ve been considering updating my decks for the Crossroads release day.”

“Ooh! Next Friday, right?”

“Indeed.” Edelgard replied. She brushed some hair away from her face, beginning to turn away.

“Oh! Well, I’ll let you get to it!” said Flayn. With a parting wave, Edelgard walked to the other end of the store, ducking between a pair of large shelves en route to the cases where Seteth housed the Fire Emblem singles. Despite Nabatea’s small size, it had quite an extensive collection of rare cards, from signed copies to special artworks only given away at conventions and events. In the past, Edelgard had tried to get Seteth to tell her where he’d managed to find some of his rarest pieces, but he simply brushed her off. She was experienced enough in the subject to know when someone clearly didn’t want to talk about something, so she didn’t badger him on the subject.

Despite knowing she couldn’t afford them, Edelgard took the time to browse some of the rarer cards behind the glass cases, always curious as to what Seteth’s mysterious connections had brought in. There was a foil “Ike, Radiant Hero” signed by the artist, that she’d often made eyes at in the past, flanked by a pair of original print run copies of “Abel, The Panther” and “Cain, The Bull”. A foil Hardin shined at Edelgard from the bottom row of cards, tempting her, but the price tag was enough to scare her away. Maybe with next month’s stipend. But it couldn’t hurt to look, certainly…

“Looks like you’ve got your eye on something! Can I help you with that?”

The voice nearly made her jump from surprise, and as Edelgard whirled around to find its source, she saw a young woman standing behind her, smiling wide. She wore a pair of brown slacks and a forest-green polo that contrasted sharply with her vibrant red bun. 

“Oh! Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you!” she added with a chuckle. “I work here. Still pretty new, though, sorry!”

“It’s quite alright.” Edelgard replied. “You must be Monica, then? She's the one who texted me on Thursday about a card I had ordered.”

“Ooh! Yeah!” The woman nearly leapt in the air as she clapped with excitement, causing Flayn to jump. “Then you’re Edelgard! Oh, I’ve heard such good things! The boss says you’re one of our most valuable customers, and I promise, I’m not just telling everybody that.” Monica gave an exaggerated wink, leading Edelgard to chuckle politely in response. “So! Whatcha looking at there, Edel?”

Pointing a finger against the glass, Edelgard answered. “Oh, just the promotional Hardin in there. Although it’s a bit out of my price range at the moment, I’m afraid.”

“Aww. What if it was 15% off?” Her voice was equal parts cajoling and persuasive, and oddly familiar as well.

Startled, Edelgard chuckled. “Well, I’d have to give it some consideration, but I didn’t think Nabatea offered coupons.”

“We don’t…” Monica trilled, her voice bouncing up and down, “but Seteth gave me permission to offer small discounts at my discretion...and I could use a little help sorting some of the cards downstairs. Would you be willing to lend a hand in exchange, Edelgard?”

And so, unable to deny the allure of a good bargain, Edelgard found herself in the basement of Nabatea, sitting at a table with Monica in front of a tub of recently sold cards, arranging them in alphabetical order. The gaming area was nearly empty at this time of day, aside from the table closest to the stairs. Two familiar figures sat there, one with a deck of playing cards and the other deeply invested in the screen of her cell phone.

“Pick a card, any card, please!” 

The man with the cards, who Edelgard recognized as Ashe, one of the Blue Lions, was mashing the deck inbetween his hands. His companion, the Golden Deer’s Hilda, seemed unamused. She snaked a hand out and snatched the top card of the deck, giving it a look.

“Kay.”

Ashe began to show off in earnest, beginning to swirl the cards around in a wave of motion. His left hand dipped and spread the deck while his right swiped the stray card from Hilda’s hand, mashing them together once more before yet another series of complex shuffles. In a final motion, he dropped the deck and swept the top card away, still managing to keep the pile of cards intact as they landed atop the table.

“Hilda, is your card…” Ashe flipped the card in his hand around. “The Six of Clubs?”

“Holy shit!” Hilda squealed, clapping her hands to her cheeks. “Oh my god! Edelgard, did you SEE that?”

Edelgard, ever diligent, didn’t look up from her volunteer work. “No, Hilda, but I’m sure that it was very impressive.” She liked to keep her mind on whatever job she was doing, continuing to sift through her piles of scuffed old cards and sorting the Barsts before the Bartres. It wasn’t a glamorous task, but someone had to do it. Monica, at least, seemed to appreciate the help. She was moving much slower with her work than Edelgard was, likely not someone who had spent the same amount of hours peeling Fire Emblem cards off of desks and tables or carefully maneuvering them into their proper storage conditions.

“Soooooo, how long have you been coming to Nabatea?” Monica asked, her voice lilting upwards.

“Oh, since Undergrad. So around five years.” Edelgard answered. “But I’ve been playing Fire Emblem for almost my entire life. It’s a passion of mine.”

“Gotcha, gotcha.” Nodding her head, Monica continued. “Well, I hope I’m not being too much of a hassle here!”

“You’re alright.” Edelgard responded, her fingers still flying across the pile before her, movements nearly as quick and dexterous as Ashe’s. “I certainly don’t mind lending a hand while I’m here. Especially if you happen to make it worth my while.”

“I’ll hold up my end of the bargain!”

As they worked, Edelgard couldn’t help but notice something peculiar about Monica. She was friendly and outgoing, but her mind never seemed to be totally on her work. Instead, Edelgard often caught her eyes lingering on her, though she’d quickly turn away when discovered. It was as if her interest was less on the cards and more on her temporary assistant. The attention probably should have felt flattering, Edelgard thought, but she couldn’t help but feel a little on edge.

“Is everything alright?” she asked, after a few minutes of this behavior. Monica blinked.

“Yeah, of course! You good, Edel?”

The overly familiar tone was beginning to chafe at her a little, but Edelgard knew she could be a little stuck up about that at times. Her aloof nature had earned its share of detractors. She cast the irritation out of her voice before responding. “You seem to be keeping a close eye on me. I promise, I’m certainly not out to steal any of this potential merchandise.”

Drawing back in her chair, Monica shook her head vigorously. “Oh, no no no, I’m not trying to watch you like that! Or, um, you know, watch you at all, I’m just...watching you? Oh, no, I’m really screwing this up, huh?”

Edelgard couldn’t help but chuckle. The lack of social graces reminded her a little of someone else.

“It’s just that you seem so GOOD at this. Like, you know the store, and how to do this stuff, and I’m still trying to wrap my head around all of it.” She sighed, and Edelgard felt sympathetic.

“You needn’t worry. I’m sure you’ll pick all of this up in time.”

Monica smiled. “That’s nice of you to say. Thanks. Maybe someday I’ll be able to understand what the hell these are even saying.” She pointed at the pile of Fire Emblem cards. “No idea how to play this game, you know.”

“There are quite a few beginners tutorials you could watch online, if you’re interested.”

“Yeah, I get that, but I kinda wanna learn from someone here after work sometime. One of our local experts, y’know? Maybe that cute blond guy?”

Edelgard snickered, looking over her shoulder to ensure that Hilda and Ashe were out of earshot. “Dimitri? I believe he’s quite busy most days with his degree.”

“Damn. How about the lanky dude with the jokes?”

“None of us know what Claude does, but whatever it is, it seems to occupy most of his time.”

“Bummer...who else…?” Monica’s gaze turned to Edelgard, and she could easily read the question they were asking. On one hand, Monica had been very kind to her, but on the other, Edelgard didn’t like instructing newbies much. The Emperor made for a poor teacher. She would, at least, have time to think before making any offers.

“I’m afraid I’m out of the running, at least tonight. I’ve got a prior engagement this evening.”

“Ooh! What are you up to?”

“A friend of mine has the lead role in a musical over at GMU.”

Monica grinned. “Hey, sounds like fun. I hope you enjoy yourself. Let’s get back to sorting this stuff, then, I don’t want to make you late!”

By the time Edelgard left Nabatea, she’d gotten her hands on both a rare foil Hardin at a substantial discount and a new contact in her phone. She’d certainly had less productive weekends, though not in a long while.

As one of the country’s most prestigious universities, Garreg Mach boasted a truly impressive auditorium. Donations from departing classes had been used to lavishly furnish the lobby Edelgard found herself in now. As she waited in the line of formally-dressed patrons, a clump of glitzy faces she didn’t recognize, she found her eyes lingering on the room’s centerpiece.

A bronze fountain spat water into the air, shaped into the spiraling shape of what Edelgard had heard was meant to be some sort of torch. That was what the plaque claimed, at least, but inventing clever and often inappropriate names for what the statue “actually looked like” was a proud GMU tradition. She wasn’t entirely sure what the “torch” was meant to symbolize at all, but it at least carried one message excruciatingly well:

If you throw enough money at something, no matter how incompetent, you’ll at least make an impact.

After a few minutes of waiting, shuffling her feet around in too-tight shoes, Edelgard approached the ticket-taker’s kiosk, being met with a “Hello!” and the muted clacking of fingers against a keyboard. The woman behind the glass grinned at Edelgard, revealing lipstick-stained teeth.

“Edelgard Hresvelg, correct?”

“That’s me.”

“Good! You’re in Balcony 2, right up the middle stairs. It’ll be the second door on your right. Your friend is already there waiting for you!”

As she was ushered away from the line with a friendly wave and the pressure of the crowd stepping in behind her, Edelgard had no chance to ask who this “friend” may have been. Thinking it over as she began to walk to her seat, a troubling conclusion pushed its way to the forefront.

This reeked of the cherry-almond lotion scented hands of Dorothea Arnault.

Dorothea had been trying to get Edelgard to be more social, or worse, to set her up, since they had been roommates. She wouldn’t put it past her in the slightest to arrange a situation that would just so happen to have Edelgard stuck in close proximity with an unwitting victim, leading to a situation where they would both make small talk, hit it off, make a date, fall in love, get married, and hire Dorothea as their wedding singer to perform a two-hour aria composed entirely of the words “I Told You So”.

Or, you know, at least something like that.

The knot in her stomach tightened when she realized who Dorothea would pick for such a scheme. Poor, sweet, kindly Byleth would be easy enough to lure to the show. Utterly unscrupulous, the whole situation was. Still, she couldn’t deny that she was looking forward to it. Just a little. The thought of watching Byleth take in the show, her subdued expression slowly shifting in the dim lights, was...appealing.

It wasn’t until she pushed open the crimson metal doors to Balcony #2 that her fantasy was shattered, brought down to Earth and crushed under the shining black shoe of Volkhard Arundel.

The Agartha Chemical CEO was sitting in a chair overlooking the stage, but he was turned to face the door as Edelgard gaped at him. “Why, Edelgard, I’m so glad you could make it! I got us the best seats in the house.” A smirk unfurled on his angular face, and Edelgard felt her blood freeze in her veins.

“Get the door, will you Myson?”

Edelgard had been so focused on Arundel that she hadn’t even noticed his companion, an elderly man in a dark black suit. He pushed the door shut behind her before nodding and gesturing to the chair.

“Come sit with me,” crowed Arundel, “We have so much to talk about!”

No restraints bound her limbs, but Edelgard knew when she’d been trapped. She wanted to scream, but making a scene in a crowded theater wouldn’t save her, Arundel was the sort of snake who could wriggle his way out of anything. She walked to the chair as if it was an electric one, dread pulling at her heels until she sunk into it. The scent of Arundel’s cologne made her nauseous.

“Arundel, what brings you here?”

“Oh, you know how I enjoy the theater. And so many of our employees are Garreg Mach alumni, why, it would have been crass of me not to show up!” He chuckled, a mirthless sound. “And what can I say, I enjoy “Gallio and Onna” almost as much as I do you and your father’s company!”

Edelgard silently gnashed her teeth. Arundel looked away, folding his arms across his chest as he surveyed the room.

“Ionius was worried about you, you know, when I told him that you didn’t attend last week’s gala event! May I ask why, Edelgard?”

She stayed silent a moment, looking out at the velvet curtains that still obscured the stage and the throngs of patrons making their way into the seats. “I had a prior engagement.” she replied, fighting to keep her voice steady. Arundel hummed in response, clearly still interested in playing things close to the chest.

“Well, dear girl, I do hope you aren’t getting too busy! Your studies are important.” He chuckled. “But of course, I don’t need to tell you that, do I? You’ve always been such an impeccable student. You’ve worked so hard and made it so far that I’m sure you’d never put that at risk, not for anything!” His next words were quiet enough to be nearly imperceptible.

“Or anyone.”

Edelgard could feel the hair on her forearms rising against the silk of her gown. Did he know about Byleth? How could he? Was he watching her? Spying on her texts? She’d long feared that could be a possibility, but had dismissed it as an errant bit of paranoia. Like all of Arundel’s visits, this clearly had a purpose, and it was intimidation. The leash around her throat was being tugged on, and Volkhard’s hands were responsible. As Edelgard’s head spun, the lights in the auditorium began to dim, and the sound of a piano rang from below.

“Oh, it sounds like the show is about to begin! Let’s be quiet and enjoy, shall we?”

At the introduction of the play’s heroine, Dorothea burst onto the stage as if she owned it. A far cry from the tipsy, silly woman who Edelgard had carried to bed not a day earlier, the Dorothea down below had fully embraced the persona of Onna the Pirate Queen. As she strutted across the stage, belting a powerful aria, Edelgard wanted to take comfort in the presence of one of her oldest friends. But a nagging voice cut through the song, crawling through the back of her mind.

What if Dorothea Arnault wasn’t who she said she was?

She’d always seemed so kind, so caring and thoughtful, but she was an actress. That was what she did. What if she knew all along about Arundel? What if she worked for him? What if she’d been watching Edelgard for years and she’d just played entirely into the man’s hands?

The racing thoughts drowned out all else, paranoia pulling at every inch of her brain. Arundel was so close, his very presence infuriating, and so Edelgard could only watch. Dorothea laughed, and it sounded just like she always did. She gave the same grin she always did as a castmate took a pratfall. She was such a talented actress, and never before had that terrorized Edelgard as it did now.

The remainder of the play was a nauseating blur. Every time Edelgard managed to force herself out of a paranoid episode, she got a reminder of Arundel’s presence. He would clear his throat, or laugh at a joke, or rest an elbow on the arm of his chair. It occurred to Edelgard that what he did wasn’t the problem, it was simply that he was there. By the time the curtain fell and the cast walked on stage for their final bows, she wanted nothing more than to run far away and never return.

“A lovely show, wasn’t it?” Arundel asked as Dorothea took her bow, applause pouring in from around the theater. “That woman is quite talented. But, Edelgard, I’m afraid I must be off. Early morning meeting tomorrow.”

“Safe travels.” Edelgard hissed, silently praying for the opposite. 

“Don’t forget what I told you.”

Arundel stood, stretched, and made his way to the exit. Stepping out from the shadows in the corner, his bodyguard followed close behind, matching his boss’s footsteps. Edelgard quickly realized her legs refused to move. She closed her eyes, trying to conjure up chemical equations to balance or Fire Emblem board states to solve, anything to drag her mind out of the sludge that seemed to emanate from Volkhard Arundel.

When the doors flung open a few moments later, she braced herself to hear his voice again.

“Edie!”

Dorothea rushed to her side, face still caked in stage makeup and costume halfway on, but still somehow managing to look gorgeous. “You made it! Thank you so much!” Dorothea flashed her a warm smile, and Edelgard felt something inside of her shift.

She had been foolish to doubt Dorothea. That was what Arundel wanted, wasn’t it? To ruin her trust, make her jump at shadows. If he had his way, she would be utterly alone, so much easier to manipulate and shape into his perfect little minion. She breathed a sigh of relief.

“Of course I made it, Dorothea.” Edelgard returned the smile. “We’re friends, right?”

Dorothea chuckled, sliding into Arundel’s vacant seat. “Well, you certainly aren’t getting rid of me, dear. I was surprised to see you up here during the show! These seats are super expensive!”

Even if Dorothea could be trusted, she didn’t have to know this.

“The student discount is quite attractive.” she quipped back, managing to throw Dorothea off the scent. “Do you need to go do anything with the cast? I don’t want to keep you.”

“Nah.” Dorothea waved a hand dismissively. “The stage crew is handling all of that tonight. I’m home free, which is good, because I’ve got some questions for you!” She swiveled in the chair and leaned on the left arm, cupping her chin in her hands and looking up at Edelgard. “So, Petra looked absolutely amazing in that outfit last night, right? She put her head on my lap and I swear to God, Edie, I felt myself about to ascend to a higher freaking plane.”

The rest of their evening was spent on Balcony #2, sharing jokes and stories about a drunken Caspar tossing his balled-up shirt at Linhardt’s face and gossiping over the appearance of the ever mysterious Bernadetta. As the tension and fear slowly melted away, Edelgard could feel warmth return to her body.

“I wanted to thank you, Dorothea.” she said. “You’ve just...always been there for me.”

“So have you! We’re in this together, and you know that.”

“Oh! I also wanted to say thanks for last week. It was good of you to make sure I got home safe.”

This time, Dorothea’s gentle smile flipped into a frown of confusion. “Sorry, what?”

“Oh,” Edelgard clarified, “I mean when you texted Claude and asked him to watch for me coming home. I didn’t know he lived so close!”

Dorothea’s brow furrowed. “Uh, Edie, are you sure you haven’t had anything to drink tonight? I didn’t text Claude anything. And he lives on campus, I’ve been to his place before. Ooh, that’s a fun story, by the way!”

As Dorothea launched into a tale of drunken debauchery, Edelgard didn’t hear a word. The familiar chill returned as her mind came to a terrifying conclusion.

Dorothea Arnault could be trusted.

Claude Riegan could not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Super Secret Author's Notes:  
\- The pile of unsorted cards was sold to the store by Hilda. She just kinda dumped it on the counter and said she'd let them figure it out.  
\- The GMU mascot is a white dragon. Chairwoman Rhea has been overheard talking about how beautiful and majestic it is on several occasions.  
\- Don't try to figure out the pun with Gallio and Onna, there's not one. I wanted to make the play "Shadow Dragon" but then I realized that I already based one fictional story off of Fire Emblem in this fictional story based off of Fire Emblem.  
\- My university was full of weird statues and art so I had to include that. We made up dumb names for them, great times.
> 
> Thanks for reading as always! Feedback is very welcome! We recently passed 500 Kudos and I'm losing my fragile mind! I also just posted a parody bonus chapter for this story called "Armbreaker Arnault" that you can find on my profile page.
> 
> I hope you have a wonderful day!
> 
> (PS: don't worry i love claude edie's just in a very bad place right now.)


	9. Confrontations

“A little to the left, I think. Almost!”

Edelgard sat cross-legged on her bed, laptop in front of her, trying to give instructions to someone on the other side of town. As her father’s assistant adjusted the camera, Edelgard did her best to get a look at his hospital room. More metal spires, gunmetal towers with blinking neon displays, attached by snaking cords to her father’s bed. They seemed to have multiplied since the last time she was at the hospital.

Her visits were infrequent, although it was no decision of her own. Her father was often too weary to receive visitors, especially as the attempted treatments of his mysterious illness had become more and more drastic. Still, he had managed to retain the services of his two closest assistants, Randolph and Ladislava.

“How’s this look?” 

Ladislava’s voice came from somewhere offscreen, and Edelgard leaned in as the form of her father appeared, lying against the headboard of a silver cot. His lips were discolored, his skin was pale, and thick bags had formed beneath his eyes, but when Ionius saw Edelgard, he smiled.

“El? I can see you, El!”

“Me too, father!”

Ladislava’s head poked in from the side of the frame, her brown hair pulled smartly into a tight bun.

“I’ll leave you two to chat, okay?”

Heels clacked against linoleum and a heavy door clicked shut before Ionius started to speak again.

“Edelgard, you look beautiful today.” he said, his voice wavering.

“Please, father.” She giggled, grabbing a chunk of hair and extending it towards the camera. “I haven’t even showered yet. Flattery is unnecessary.”

“Your hair isn’t the only thing that makes you beautiful. You know that.” Ionius wasn’t often one for fatherly wisdom during Edelgard’s childhood, typically focused on other matters, but he seemed to have picked up the habit during his stay at the hospital. “How is school?”

“Things have been going well. My advisor says my classes show consistent growth, and my personal research is on-par with many professionals in the field.”

Ionius scoffed, although it sounded more like a wheeze. “Oh, Edie, I know that. Have you been making friends?”

This time it was Edelgard’s turn to laugh. “You do know I am 23 years old, not eight, right? You haven’t been in that bed quite that long!”

“Oh, of course I do, but I could ask anyone if Edelgard Hresvelg was the smartest student at Garreg Mach and they’d tell me. What I want to know…” He started to hack, raising up a shaking finger when Edelgard began to reach for her phone to text Ladislava. When he finished, he launched right back in. “What I want to know is if anyone’s discovered that she’s the kindest one too.”

Edelgard frowned. “Kind is not the first word that comes up. But...yes. I do have a new...friend.”

Of course, Ionius was intrigued, so Edelgard launched into the full story of her time with Byleth, with some strategic alterations. As far as her father would know, Edelgard found a missing wallet on that park bench, which she immediately brought to the attention of the groundskeeper, who pointed her to the RV. When the tale concluded, Ionius shook his head, smiling wide despite the fatigue in his eyes.

“Sounds like an interesting character. What’s she look like?”

“Hmm.” Edelgard scratched at her chin, drawing on memory at this point. “She’s got blue hair, sort of the color of berries. Wide, violet eyes, super expressive ones, which is good because she’s so softspoken. She’s about as tall as Ladislava, and she usually wears jackets, even when it’s warm. Her voice is sort of like...Father, are you alright?”

To her surprise, Ionius had burst into snickering laughter somewhere between the description of Byleth’s voice and her wardrobe. 

“Father, calm down!”

Shooting a hand up into the jumble of technology, Ionius reached for a translucent mask and pulled it over his mouth, taking a few seconds of deep, oxygenated breaths. When he looked back towards Edelgard, he was still grinning.

“Oh, El. I didn’t even know you liked girls!”

“Father! What?!?” Now SHE was laughing, somehow, the sight of her long-suffering father in such a joyful state evidently rubbing off on her. Edelgard tried her best to tug her mouth back into an indignant frown. “Don’t you think you’re jumping to conclusions?”

“Edelgard, dear, I made my living watching investors lie to me about how confident they were. When anyone conceals their emotions, there’s a tell. I’m sick, not stupid.”

“And what, do you so presumptuously think, is my tell?”

Ionius chuckled. “You get excited. You’ve known your friend Dorothy for five years, and all I know about her is that she has brown hair and sings. I feel like I could pick this Byleth out of a crowd, dear, and it’s been ten minutes.”

Edelgard groaned and rolled her eyes. She hadn’t realized she was that easy to read. That had to be something to improve on. “Father…”

“Oh, it’ll be our secret, dear. I’ll take it to the grave.” Ionius laughed hoarsely. “Not exactly a lengthy commitment, I’m sure.”

Twisting her face into a frown, Edelgard leaned closer to the camera. “I’ve asked you not to make jokes like that.”

“I’m sorry. It’s just…there’s not much levity here, you know.”

Death was not something Edelgard was unfamiliar with, exactly. She could remember bits and pieces of her mother’s service, mostly just sensory things. She remembered the plush green carpet of the funeral home, the deep tones of the organ’s mournful song, the way the dress, too formal for any seven year old, itched against her arms.

She certainly didn’t remember how her mother looked in the casket, although that was probably for the better.

“It is not as if giving up hope will cure you, you know.” Edelgard’s tone had shifted, dropping the playful banter for what she hoped was an encouraging speech. “You’ve had bad stretches before, and you’ve bounced back. The evidence suggests recovery.”

Ionius furrowed his brow. “Yes, yes, I understand. Volkhard has told me the same thing, time and again.” Noticing the way Edelgard tensed, he sighed. “He does mean well, you know.”

That was wrong. It was so violently wrong it made her stomach lurch. But Edelgard had tried before to tell her father about what happened, and he hadn’t believed her. No one, it seemed, would believe her. Perhaps he thought it was just shock from her illness, or aftereffects of the medicine, or maybe he did believe her and simply couldn’t detach himself from Arundel’s money. Ionius Hresvelg was a hard man to read, even to his own daughter.

“But-”

Her attention snapped back to the laptop screen.

“You know yourself best. Always make sure you put that brain of yours to good use.” Ionius shook his head. “Don’t waste all of it thinking about your weak old man.”

“I won’t.” Edelgard replied, softer than usual.

“Good, good.” Ionius shuffled in his bedsheets, wincing at the errant movement. “I’m afraid that’s about all I have in me for now, though. I’ll be in touch. Is your card tournament this week?”

“It is!” she replied.

“Well, I hope you have fun!” Ionius’ expression relaxed as he lie flat on his back once more, leaving the camera with a view of nothing more than the tips of his pillows and the slate grey of his headboard. “I’m always rooting for you. You know why.”

For once, Edelgard made no effort to fight back the warmth that rushed to her cheeks. “I’m your El?”

“You’re my one and only El. Talk to you soon, sweetheart.”

The camera feed blinked back into a black screen, and Edelgard fell back onto her bed, grunting as her shoulders bounced against the mattress. Her father was out of her reach again, and thoughts of her encounter with Arundel and conversation with Dorothea last night once more filled her head.

Tomorrow, she decided, she would have answers. It didn’t much matter how she got them. 

Perhaps, Edelgard considered, the mask of the Emperor would be of use outside of a game.

After an unremarkable Monday morning class, Edelgard walked through the doors of Seiros Hall’s faculty lounge. Fitting with Garreg Mach’s reputation as an upscale, high class, far-too-expensive university, the lounge was decadently decorated with plaques and trophies lining the walls and shelves filled with the published works of former graduates. As usual for lunchtime, the room had several professors meandering around it, but Edelgard’s eyes were on the muscular man standing next to the banquet table.

“Dedue?”

The chef looked down at Edelgard, a faint smile crossing his stoic features.

“Ah. Edelgard. Good to see you.” He waved a hand over the opened basket in front of him. “Would you like a croissant? I made a fresh batch last night, but Dimitri and I couldn’t finish them.”

Peering into the basket, Edelgard couldn’t help but feel her mouth start to water a little at the sight and smell of another of Dedue Molinaro’s “DecaDeduedent Morsels” (a nickname Annette had come up with that he didn’t have the heart to refuse), but the thought of her quarry being so close ripped her focus back.

“I appreciate the offer, but I’ll pass. Is Dimitri here already?”

Dedue motioned over his shoulder. “He’s in the break room with Claude. Their usual arrangement.”

For as long as Edelgard could remember, Dimitri and Claude had played a game of Fire Emblem to decide who’d pay for the vending machine sodas. She didn’t understand the idea, finding the stakes too low to be impactful and the setup too casual to actually serve as decent practice, but perhaps that was just her “unique” approach. Right now, though, it was perfect, because it was one of the few ways that Claude Riegan could be pinned down.

And indeed, there he was, sitting across from Dimitri at a polished silver table. Each of them was shuffling a deck of cards in their hands, halfway engaged in a conversation as Edelgard stomped through the door. Lysithea Ordelia was stationed in front of the vending machine, a chocolate bar protruding from her mouth.

“Heya, Princess.” Claude said, with Dimitri giving a courteous nod. “Wanna get in on this game? We can go free for all.”

“We’ve got room!” Dimitri added, but Edelgard shook her head.

“I’ll have to pass. Claude?” Edelgard’s eyes narrowed as shepulled the door shut. “We need to talk.”

The sounds of shuffling softened as Dimitri turned to Edelgard, then back to Claude, who hadn’t even bothered looking up. The cards clapped together as he haphazardly tossed them between his hands.

“Yeah, sure. It’ll have to wait, though, Dimi and I are just getting started here. I’ll win fast for you.”

“Claude?” Edelgard’s tone iced over, as if she was confronting a student in her class who was interrupting a lecture. “We need to talk now.”

The mood in the room had perceptibly shifted. Claude finally looked up, matching Edelgard’s gaze with his own. He seemed utterly undeterred.

“You’re going to have to wait. Sorry, Edelgard. I’m busy. You done shuffling there, Dimitri?”

“If there’s an issue, I can wait.” Dimitri replied.

“There isn’t.” Claude said. “Let’s get playing.”

Sliding into the chair next to Claude, Edelgard dropped her palms on the table, louder than necessary. “Alright, Claude, I’ll get straight out with it. What in the HELL do you think you’re doing?”

Lysithea quickly turned and walked out of the room as Dimitri stood, shaking his head. “Honestly, Edelgard, is something wrong?”

“I dunno what she’s so cranky about.” Claude said. “Sleep trouble again?”

“Do not mess with me, Riegan.” Edelgard glared at Claude, her eyes on fire. “You had better tell me right now why you’ve been stalking me.”

“Stalking?!?” Dimitri shouted. “What’s going on here?”

“You’re really going places you don’t understand, Edelgard.” Claude’s voice was cool, deprived of his usual playfulness. “Back off, seriously. Nothing shady is going on, okay? It’s for the best.”

“Fuck off, Riegan!” Edelgard snarled. “I will not let anyone meddle in my life any longer! Tell Volkhard I get it! I understand! You can all stop! Leave me alone!”

Edelgard caught her breath, barely aware of her own loss of control. She had spent so long under a microscope, so many years being dragged around on Agartha Chem’s chains. Even someone as competent and collected as Edelgard had a breaking point, and she feared she was coming dangerously close.

Dimitri stood, raising his palms. “I don’t know what’s going on here, but I won’t have any part in this. The two of you need to work this out like adults.”

“Don’t lecture me, Dimitri!” Edelgard hissed.

“I think I’m going to have to postpone our game, Dimitri.” Claude said. “Sorry. I’ll catch up with you later, okay?”

As Dimitri stormed out the door, Claude turned to Edelgard, his brow furrowed.

“I know this looks bad. But you just have to trust me, okay? I’ve got my reasons.”

Clenching her fists, Edelgard shot to her feet, the chair beneath her toppling and crashing against the floor. “I don’t trust you, Claude.”

She didn’t know who she could trust anymore.

Before he could spit out another excuse, she turned on her heels and stomped out of the room, rage pushing her through the halls and out the doors of Seiros Hall. There was only one place she’d be able to blow off this amount of steam.

Nabatea’s play area was quiet, which was fine. Right now, Edelgard preferred it that way. She liked the way the cards felt in her hands as she rifled through them, taking solace in the familiar sensations. She liked the snaps of the plastic sleeves colliding, the faces of the cards covered with timeworn scuffs and collected signatures, and the rote routine of separating them into piles, five of ten each. All of that was so simple, but it was hers.

Nothing and no one could take that away. She sat at a familiar table, trying to sort through her frustrations like she did her decks. The comfort that had come from the weekend’s party, seeing the Eagles all together, had been sapped by Volkhard’s sudden intervention. Had that been the plan all along? Was he trying to keep her isolated, free of influence that could provoke her to disobey? It wouldn’t be long until she got her degree, and then she would have nowhere left to run. Agartha would own her. Maybe it wasn’t worth stringing the others along.

“Hey. You alright?”

Edelgard lifted her eyes slightly to see Monica slide in on the other side of the table. The redhead smiled, as bouncy as usual behind the boxes she carried.

“I’m quite alright.” Edelgard replied. She wasn’t particularly interested in the company right now, but Monica didn’t get the message. The employee started to unstack the game boxes.

“Y’know, Seteth wants me to make sure we’ve got all the pieces for these used games people sold us this morning. I figure the best way to do that is to play! You look a little bored, Edel, would you mind helping me out?”

She did mind, honestly, but she figured she’d alienated enough acquaintances for one day. “Well, if Nabatea needs my assistance, who am I to decline?”

“Great!” A grin spread across Monica’s face. “Let’s get started, shall we?” She pulled a bright red package between herself and Edelgard, leaning over to read the label. “”Barnyard Blitz”. Huh. Every play this one, Edel?”

“I’m afraid not.”

The game, as Monica explained, was card-based. The goal was to collect four of every animal depicted on the cards, and drop the sets to empty your hand. There were Pig cards, Horse cards, Dog cards, and other farmyard animals. To do so, you had to ask your opponent if they had any of a certain animal. If they did, you got to claim them, but if they did not, you drew a card from the deck. The first player to make a specified number of matches won the game.

“So they’re...selling Go Fish now?” Edelgard muttered, looking down at her hand.

“With pictures, Edelgard! Pictures of animals!”

“I suppose you are correct.” She was holding two pigs, a dog, and a pair of chickens, illustrated in bright colors dancing around a farmyard scene.

“Alright, you start!”

Logically, the optimal choice for her starting move would be to ask for pigs or chickens, assuming an even distribution of each animal in the deck. In retrospect, that was the sort of thing she should have clarified before the game began.

“Do you have any pigs?” 

“Rats! Or, wait, Pigs!” Monica giggled to herself. “I’ve got one!” As she passed it over, she smiled. “So, how was that play you were talking about?”

“Oh, it was excellent. Worth the price of admission, for sure.”

Monica giggled, waving her hand in front of her face. “Ooh. Even with the pricey seats? Got any doggies?”

Something in the back of Edelgard’s brain clicked. “I do.” she answered, handing over the dog. “I don’t...recall mentioning my seating to you.”

Monica smiled, the tips of her canines suddenly visible. “Oh, you didn’t. I’m friends with your uncle, dear.”

A wave of nausea rushed through Edelgard. She gripped the table tighter, feeling every breath as it ran up the back of her throat. Monica leaned in, tilting her head towards the other side of the room. As Edelgard looked over, she saw Seteth and Flayn, both sitting down at one of the other tables. The message, she realized, was clear.

She couldn’t make a scene. Not without revealing her secret.

“Oh.” Edelgard said, half whispered. “I didn’t know that. What has he told you?”

Monica giggled. “Let’s just say he wasn’t stingy with the embarrassing childhood stories! Showed me a couple pictures too! Sorry! I think it’s your turn, isn’t it?”

Looking down at her trembling hands, Edelgard swallowed. “Right. Do you have any...cats?”

“Noooooope!” Monica trilled in a singsong tone. “Sorry, Edel, gotta draw a card.”

“What made you want to work at Nabatea?” she asked. Edelgard wasn’t going to give up on getting information, not when all the pieces seemed to be falling into place. She was tired of being the victim.

“Oh, you know…” Monica made a show of examining her nails, painted with alternating reds and purples. “I love to be so close to campus. Great opportunity to meet the locals, see what they get up to. I mean, I’m sure you know all about it, right, Edel? You’re a regular!”

A spy, then. Just the sort of thing Arundel would pull. But not a very good one, given how quickly she’d given up her origin.

“I am.” Edelgard replied. “I’m afraid there’s not much to learn, though. It’s a pretty simple campus.”

“Well then…” Monica lowered her hands beneath her chin and hoisted it up, beaming. “I suppose you’ll all have to settle for seeing my lovely little face every time you visit!”

A chill dropped down Edelgard’s back. Her sanctuary had been infiltrated, inhabited by someone who wanted nothing more than to remind her of what she’d been through. This was a way to keep her on task, to strip every chance for release away.

Monica wasn’t a spy. She was part of the cage.

“Oh, Edelgard?” She winked. “Got any rats?”

_claws on skin_

“No. Draw a card.”

_tails dragging across her tightly closed lips_

“Darn! Your turn!”

_dimly lit halls and too-bright rooms_

“Do you have any cows?”

_a knife cutting somewhere, the anesthesia not enough to mask the blade_

“One! Here you go!”

_empty cries when no one was listening_

“Your turn.”

_stupid, worthless, lab rat, crybaby, coward, weakling, idiot_

“Hmm...got any rats? Oh, whoops! Already asked that! Silly me!”

_never getting away never getting to leave forever at agartha chem_

Edelgard stood quickly, her heart pounding and a voice screaming in her head. Maybe it was her own. Quickly, she began to gather her things, staring wide-eyed at Monica’s saccharine smile.

“I need to go home.”

“No worries, Edel! I get it! Busy life, being an honor student and all! Study hard, girl!” She smirked, and Edelgard could see the satisfaction in her eyes.

As she rushed up the stairs, desperate for escape, Edelgard barely heard Flayn’s voice call out from behind her.

“Goodbye Edelgard! Come back soon!”

The ride home was a blur. It was night, far later than she expected, and the moon was full in the sky. Her apartment was silent, except for Hubert’s occasional titters, and Edelgard found herself propped up in the corner of her bed, arms tucked tightly around her own knees as the shadows of her furniture fell in jagged edges around her.

It was childish, perhaps, but she felt utterly drained. There was no safety anymore, nowhere Volkhard could not reach, no person guaranteed to be outside of his influence. When every shadow held a terrible memory, perhaps it wasn’t foolish to be afraid of the dark.

Edelgard brought the dim light of her phone close to her face, in search of normalcy to calm her rapid breathing and the deafening pounding in her chest.

Black Eagles Group Chat  
(You Are An Admin)

Nine Members

[Dorothea]: omg lady at cethleann’s got pissed because we don’t carry pomegranite

[Dorothea]: wtf i’m not in charge of that yell at someone else about ur dumbass fruits

[Caspar]: but pomegrant slaps

[Ferdinand]: Pomegranete is indeed delicious!

[Linhardt]: it’s “pomegranate” you clowns

[Bernie]: *Pomegranate

[Bernie]: sorry! Didn’t see your message!

[Linhardt]: it’s cool no worries

[Byleth]: never had it…

[Edelgard]: Evening everyone.

[Dorothea]: Edie!!!! LOOK WHO’S IN THE GROUP CHAT : D

[Bernie]: hi

[Bernie]: byleth invited me i hope that’s okay

[Edelgard]: It’s quite alright.

[Petra]: You are up late, Edelgard.

[Caspar]: yeah, usually you’re telling us to shut up and sleep about now

[Edelgard]: I can’t sleep. Long day.

[Dorothea]: Can’t sleep? Everything okay?

She hated lying to Dorothea.

[Edelgard]: just family stuff

[Ferdinand]: A familiar subject for me. Sorry, Edelgard.

[Linhardt]: rough stuff

[Petra]: Byleth, have you been to Cethleann’s?

[Dorothea]: not while i’m there! you should come tomorrow! 

[Dorothea]: u wanna come too, bernie?

[Bernie]: sorry, I don’t think i’m ready

[Dorothea]: It’s okay. 

[Caspar]: take ur time bernie!

[Bernie]: <3

The conversation dragged on, but as her friends gradually said their goodbyes, Edelgard could feel the loneliness encroaching on her. She’d never felt this way before, perhaps knowing that there was an escape had kept her sane. Now she was jumping at phantoms, the stress finally cracking her well-polished shell.

Most frightening of all, sleep seemed preferable. Better the devil she knew.

Edelgard slumped over, halfway perched on a pillow, and let the night slowly pull her eyelids shut, the fight finally drained from her.

This time, Edelgard did not find herself in the examination rooms of Agartha Chemical’s hospital. Instead, she was in a deep forest, running for her life from an unseen foe. In her hands she held an axe, like the kinds that littered her Fire Emblem cards, and beside her were Dimitri and Claude, dressed in bizarre medieval costumes. 

It would have been funny if not for the looks on their faces. Both of them were clearly terrified, and when they locked eyes with her, they only looked even more afraid. Soon, they split off, running in different directions through the woods. A full moon was all that lit her path as she rushed onward, trying to ignore the branches that swung at her face and the uneven earth that bit at her feet.

Up ahead was a clearing. A promise, perhaps, of safety.

Edelgard sprinted forward, pumping her arms as the stomping of her pursuer grew louder and louder, twigs snapping as it came. As she reached the clearing, bursting out into the open plain, Edelgard felt a sharp pain in her toes. An unseen rock sent her sprawling, removing her grip on the axe and causing the weapon to fall somewhere, seemingly swallowed up by the darkness and the thick grass.

As Edelgard rolled onto her back, a looming figure blocked out the moon’s light. He was massive, like a bodybuilder, his bare chest covered in scars. His deep brown hair framed his face in a rugged beard, and he wore a malevolent scowl, looking down at Edelgard as if she were an insect.

“Please…” she gasped, but the man was undeterred. He raised his weapon, an axe, and blood dripped from the blade, landing with a splash on Edelgard’s face.

“Don’t!”

The scowl turned into a grin, and for just a moment, Edelgard could almost see Monica in his place, her mocking words resounding through her head. With a grunt, the axe started to come down, the steel headed directly for her chest. She squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for herself to be torn apart.

A loud knock shook Edelgard out of her nightmare, and she sprung awake, sweat pouring down her face. 

Someone was at the door.

Cautiously, she stood, moving to her dresser first and retrieving the knife she kept hidden. The knock sounded once more, and Edelgard walked across her apartment, the sounds of her own ragged breaths filling the room. As she reached the door, she leaned over to peer through the glass peephole carved in the center.

Two black button eyes, attached to a furry snout, stared back.

“Edelgard?” came a voice from the hall.

“I brought the bear.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Super Secret Author's Notes:
> 
> \- If any chapter gets changed in the future, it's probably going to be this one. I don't have a beta reader ATM, and much of this feels a tad unpolished to me.  
\- Dedue's DecaDeduedent Morsels is a name that provoked the single most contested debate among the Blue Lions members of all time. Dimitri, Dedue, Annette, and Ingrid think it's great. Felix hates it. Sylvain and Ashe think it's hilarious. The debate was nearly all Felix.  
\- The administrative buildings at GMU are Cichol Hall, Seiros Hall, Macuil Hall, and Indech Hall, each stationed at one of the four corners of the campus.  
\- Monica using a card game to taunt Edelgard on her phobia is the most yugioh-ass thing to happen so far and probably in the whole story, but this isn't a bad thing, I love yugioh.  
\- Byleth convinced Bernie to give the group chat a try through a mix of sheer Byleth-style charisma and a bribe of promising to try her favorite MMO. Byleth, however, does not have a computer. She just wanted to be nice.


	10. Resolution

Thirteen years ago, Edelgard and Byleth had very different evenings.

Edelgard lie alone in her hospital bed, listening to the whirring of the towering machine behind her. It was a strangled sound, like gravel being crushed underfoot, but she valued it, for it was something to focus on, something that kept her mind from wandering. Thinking too much, in this place, wasn’t healthy.

Byleth was sitting cross-legged on the RV’s sofa, peering out the window at the forest she and her father were camped in. A stream trickled by outside, and she very much would have liked to go swimming in it, but Jeralt had banned leaving the RV during what he called “prime grizzly hours”. She would have to be content, it seemed, with watching.

When the red light blinked from behind Edelgard, shading the front of the room with a crimson glow for but a moment, she knew her source of comfort was coming to an end. The machine’s labored churning abruptly slowed to a stop, the faint whine of gears accompanying her descent into fear. There was no light in the room, no sound, nothing but every monster and demon her mind could come up with, and she’d always been called “so imaginative”. 

“Father?” she whispered, knowing full well he was miles away. But she could dream, couldn’t she?

A guttural shout shocked Byleth from her reverie, causing her to leap from the couch and dash down the RV’s hall. She wrenched open the door to her father’s bedroom, rushing to his side as Jeralt sat straight up, panting as sweat poured down his face. His eyes were wide, and he clenched the blankets below as if he were holding on for dear life. During his time in the military, Byleth knew, he had seen things that would never leave him alone. When she was very young, it had shocked her to see someone so strong so frightened, but by now, she understood. Strength had nothing to do with it.

Edelgard knew what her father had told her, that she was so smart, so brave, so strong for her age, but right now she was none of those things. As the dark coiled around her, unseen hands surely hovering just inches away, she didn’t even have the will to scream, for fear that any movement would bring them closer.

Byleth gently wrapped her hands around her father’s waist, wedging her forehead into his side as he jumped slightly at her presence. She couldn’t see his face, only the worn out threads of his well-used pajama shirt, but she could hear his breathing. It slowed as Jeralt chuckled, his warm hand pressing into Byleth’s back.

“Thanks, kid. Always got my back, don’t you?”

The whimper coming from Edelgard’s mouth filled her with shame. She was ten years old, not a baby anymore, crying was assuredly beneath her. But here, nothing was beneath her. In this place, where she was poked and prodded, pierced and cut, fed strange pills and told that it was all her imagination, she had to afford herself certain luxuries of childishness.

Jerlat shakily rose to his feet, gingerly pulling on Byleth’s arm as he stood.

“C’mon. Let’s play some cards, get my mind off of things. That sound fun to you?”

Byleth nodded, and they made for the kitchen.

Edelgard lay still, fear coursing through her while tears began to drip from her eyes. She’d have been embarrassed, but of course, no one could see.

She was all alone.

“Byleth?” Edelgard exclaimed, as she pulled open the door to her apartment. Standing there, illuminated by the flickering hall light, was the mysterious card shark herself, dressed in a red hoodie and a pair of capris. Her hair was slightly mussed and her breathing seemed heavier than normal, but most striking by far was the tattered teddy bear she held in her hands. “What in the world are you doing here?”

“You said you couldn’t sleep.” Byleth replied, as if it were the most obvious answer in the world.

Edelgard’s eyes widened. “It...it is nearly midnight, Byleth!”

“Uh huh. Guess it is.”

Edelgard stood there for a moment, at a loss for words. The entire situation was ridiculous, and the proper thing to do would be to explain to Byleth that a simple text message inquiring about her condition would have been more than acceptable for checking on her condition. 

“Come inside.” she whispered, promptly throwing the proper thing to do out the nearest window.

Byleth stepped in, looking around the apartment with those glassy eyes.

“How did you even know which room was mine?” Edelgard asked, shutting the door behind them.

“Your name is on the mailbox.” Byleth replied, shrugging her shoulders. "Is that a parrot?"

As Edelgard made her way to the dresser, surreptitiously returning the knife to her sock drawer, she peered out the window. Searching the view of the parking lot for a chunky RV, Edelgard’s worst fear about this situation was suddenly confirmed. When she whirled back around to face Byleth, she was reeling back from having poked her finger between the bars of Hubert's cage, getting a peck for her troubles.

“Please at least tell me that you drove here!”

Byleth, maddeningly, shook her head along with her damaged finger. “Walked.”

“Byleth!” Edelgard could feel her cheeks warming, the circumstances of this conversation a mixture of infuriating and embarrassing. “I’m sorry if I worried you, but this is...a lot. You didn’t need to do this.”

“I know.” Byleth finished pacing the room, coming to rest as she leaned against a wall. “I wanted to. You’re my friend.” She extended her arms towards Edelgard, letting the raggedy bear dangle in front of her. “And last time, you slept better with the bear. So I brought it for you.”

Carefully, Edelgard reached up and took the stuffed animal in her hands. She felt like she should have been ashamed, surely looking like an immature fool as she clutched a child’s toy, but that rush of heat never came. The way Byleth looked at her was free of judgment or ridicule. It was the look of someone who cared, perhaps not in the same way others did, or in a way that you would expect, but certainly did. There was a warmth to her gaze that wrapped around Edelgard’s heart like a blanket, soothing its frantic pumps.

“Thank you.” she said, the words coming out like a breath of fresh air. She held the bear tightly to her chest as she walked back to her bed, turning to face Byleth once more. “I owe you a great debt for this kindness, Byleth. Thank you for coming all this way.” She nodded, looking towards the door, but Byleth didn’t move. 

“Don’t you need to talk about it?”

Edelgard caught a gasp before it could escape. She’d not been expecting that question, and her usual defenses took a few moments to come online.

“I don’t. It is simply an odd evening for me.” She cleared her throat. “Goodnight, Byleth.” With the conversation complete, Edelgard sank into her bed. She hadn’t even managed to lay down before Byleth’s response came.

“Please don’t lie to me.”

Shocked, Edelgard stared at Byleth, who had peeled herself off of the wall. A dejected frown covered her face.

“What?”

“You’re lying. I can tell.”

Byleth crossed her arms. “Something’s wrong. You have so much trouble sleeping that it makes you sick, and then you say that everything’s fine, but that’s not what fine is.”

Her heart skipping a beat, Edelgard tensed. “Byleth. That’s enough.”

“You shouldn’t do this to yourself.” Byleth continued, her voice insistent. “There are a lot of people who care about you and don’t want you to be sad. You deserve to be happy.”

“Byleth, you don’t know what you’re saying.”

“It hurts to see you this way! You’re my first friend and I want you to be happy!” She took a step closer, dauntlessly returning Edelgard’s stare.

“Byleth, please.”

“Edelgard, who hurt you?”

Silence came rushing into the room like a monsoon. Byleth stood with her arms to her sides, gazing intently at Edelgard, who hadn’t realized she had backed up against the wall. Her palms were sweaty, her knees were shaking, and the stuffed bear had been drawn tightly against her stomach. She could feel the phantom tug of the restraints, pulling her back, keeping her locked away from safety.

But then, Byleth walked towards her, ignoring Hubert's indignant squawking. She sat on the edge of the bed, listening to the way it creaked as another person’s weight descended. For some time, she simply sat there, her palms resting atop Edelgard’s blankets, before she spoke again.

“You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to. It’s just that my dad went through something like this. He still does. He used to worry that if anyone knew, they’d mock him or tell him he was overreacting, but I never wanted to do that. I wanted to help him, and I want to help you.”

Edelgard was silent. A thousand responses flew about her mind, jockeying for position, telling her she should shoo Byleth away or insist nothing was wrong or grab her beautiful shoulders and kiss her right now, but none of those thoughts managed to make it out. Instead, she simply watched as Byleth turned to her and made the slightest of frowns.

“You’re crying.”

Somehow Edelgard hadn’t noticed. For so long, her tears had been confined to dreams, and the feeling of wetness on her cheeks was alien and unexpected. She blinked away teardrops, watching in stuttered vision as Byleth reached towards her, hand balled in her jacket’s sleeve. Byleth dabbed the tears away from Edelgard’s left cheek, but before she could mirror the motion, Edelgard scrambled back, her eyes wide.

“I’m sorry!” Byleth said. “Did I hurt you?”

Edelgard shook her head. “No, no, not at all! I just...I have trouble with unexpected touch. It’s foolish of me.”

“I don’t think that’s foolish at all.” The silence stretched on for a few more seconds. “May I get the other side? If that’s alright?”

After Edelgard nodded her consent, Byleth leaned in once more, gently dragging the soft fabric of her sleeve over the dampness on her face. Touch, to Edelgard, was so often a warning, the preliminary work for a painful procedure.

Somehow, though, this touch was an anomaly. She could feel the warmth of Byleth’s fingers, hear the soft breathing as she worked, and sense the caring nature of the contact. She had been hugged by Dorothea before, of course, but here, in the silent world of her apartment, the moment felt imbued with a different kind of magic.

When Byleth pulled away, an unexpected yearning filled Edelgard’s chest. She was alone again, cut off from the world. 

She didn’t want to feel that way any longer.

“Byleth?”

“Mmm?”

Edelgard had lived a double life for a very long time. The studious, efficient, stoic academic who dove into her work to escape the memories of her past, and the ruthless, passionate, daring Flame Emperor who made opponents quake in their seats. For so long, she had compartmentalized her feelings, pushed others away, but now, she wanted nothing more than to have someone by her side. Despite the danger, she needed it, like she needed air or water.

And so, Edelgard Hresvelg made the riskiest play of her career.

“Will you...put your hands on me again?”

Byleth looked back, expression unreadable. Almost immediately, Edelgard began to amend her statement.

“Not in any inappropriate manner, of course! I meant the term only in its most literal form, you see, not in any way that could be misconstrued or taken as-”

She only stopped babbling when Byleth was already across the bed, wrapping the smaller woman in her arms.

“Like this?” she asked, and Edelgard could only nod with approval. “This helps my dad. Focus on me, okay? I’m here, and we’re safe.”

Her senses were filled with Byleth Eisner. She could feel her arms, muscular and bumpy, pressing into her abdomen. Her hair smelled like pine-trees and her chest calmly rose and fell, a pulsing rhythm that Edelgard felt her own breathing fall into sync with. The warmth surrounded her, and a bizarre feeling spread throughout her body.

It was at once a tingling and a numbness, an utter elation that somehow made her feel completely calm. It carried the feeling of invincibility and permanence, as if nothing could hurt her in this frozen moment, one she wished would last forever.

She knew, however, that on the path that was laid out for her, there was no room for love. Arundel would put her to work in his laboratories, surely placing her on the most vile of projects, and she wouldn’t be fit to love any longer. Edelgard prepared herself to stop this, tell Byleth to leave, but inside of her, another voice whispered.

“Enough.” said the Flame Emperor, and her resolve peaked.

Now was the time to fight back.

“Byleth?” she whispered. Byleth grunted her acknowledgement. “If I’m going to tell you what happened to me, I want you to swear to keep it a secret. Do you still want to hear it?”

“Absolutely.”

Edelgard breathed in deeply, her thoughts starting to rebel, but a light squeeze from Byleth silenced any dissent. “When I was young, I suddenly became very ill. I was wheezing when I moved, prone to vomiting and fevers, and these...crests started to rise up on my skin. They itched and bled, and none of my usual doctors could find out what was wrong with me. But my father is a very wealthy man, and he was acquainted with a man named Volkhard Arundel. Have you heard of Agartha Chemical?”

Byleth shook her head, the tips of her hair tickling Edelgard’s cheeks. “No.”

“They’re a company that deals mainly in pharmaceuticals. They own a private “hospital” on the edge of town, though the word “laboratory” seems more apt. Arundel is Agartha’s CEO, and he vowed to my father that if he left me in their care, they would cure my condition.”

The memory of her departure felt like it was mocking Edelgard. She’d kissed her father on the cheek and hugged him tight, sure that she would feel much better when she returned. Innocence died on a cold examination table.

“I stayed there for a year, and…”

As Edelgard attempted to continue, she found her words blocked by a strange pressure in her throat. Her vision blurred with moisture and she could barely force out the words between a sudden outbreak of sobs. The pressure at her back shifted, and suddenly Byleth’s hand was pressing gently against it, making small circles.

“They tortured me. They cut me and they injected me and they did so many terrible things just to see how I’d react. I was like a testing ground for them, someone with an immune system so compromised that they could see the most pronounced effects of anything they tried.” She felt a righteous anger bubbling up in her gut. “And they told me it was fine. Told me I was dreaming the worst of it, that I was a stupid kid with an active imagination. But they cured me, and my father trusted them, and so now they own me.”

“That’s not true-”

“You don’t understand. Everything I have, everything I am, Volkhard Arundel bought it!” Edelgard was nearly screaming now, her hands balled around the edges of her pillow in tight fists. “If I betray them, or I don’t listen, they’ll take it all away!” The sobs came harder and faster now, tearstains quickly dampening her pillowcase. “They have my dad, Byleth. He’s so sick, and they pay for his treatment. If I walk away, then…” Edelgard couldn’t finish the thought, devolving into a sputtering whine as Byleth leaned in closer, holding tighter.

“I’m so sorry you had to see me like this. I’m so...weak.”

“You’re not weak.” Byleth’s voice was firm. “You live with this every day. You do all of the amazing things you do, even with so much weight on your back. You’re strong, Edelgard. You’re one of the strongest people I know.”

From almost anyone else, those words would have felt like empty praise, hollow concessions in this moment of need. But from Byleth, who was charmingly blunt and always seemed to speak her mind, Edelgard couldn’t help but believe she felt that way.

“I...thank you, Byleth.”

She breathed in deeply, letting the soft hum of Byleth’s pulse center her.

“I don’t sleep because of the nightmares. When I have them, I’m back at that hospital, always during the worst of it. I stay awake because it’s the only way I can run.” Edelgard shifted, turning to look Byleth in the eyes.

“I don’t want to run any longer. I’m going to find a way. A way to bring down Agartha, and save my father.”

Byleth nodded, her lips pulled into a tight line. “Okay. I’ll help you.”

“That’s very kind of you, Byleth, but you’ve already done enough.” Edelgard whispered.

Byleth shook her head. “They sound like the sort of people you can’t fight alone. I don’t want you doing this by yourself.”

Edelgard chuckled, a hoarse sound from the back of her throat. “I...I just wish I knew what to do. I’ll have to think of something…” She turned around once more, nestling her cheek in the corner of the pillow. “This isn’t going to happen overnight.”

Byleth nodded, settling down next to her. “It won’t. Do you want me to stay tonight?”

Edelgard felt her face flush. “That...that would be…”

“Do you want me to walk back in the dark?”

“...Point taken. You should get some sleep.”

Byleth frowned, letting out a deep “Hmmm”. “You should sleep too.”

“That doesn’t always help me.”

Byleth’s hands came into view as they snaked around Edelgard’s torso, reaching around and twiddling the tips of the stuffed bear’s ears. “But you have the bear.” she said, with a definitive nod.

A soft smirk crept onto Edelgard’s face. It wasn’t the bear that made her feel this way. “I suppose you are correct.”

“Good. Then sleep.”

The thought of what lay ahead stuck in Edelgard’s brain. The idea was there, the goal was firm, but the task of undermining Volkhard Arundel and his dirty company was a massive one. Her next steps would need to be careful ones, or everything could come tumbling down around her.

She should have been scared.

She knew that, could connect the dots clearly in her mind. But lying there, in the soft comfort of her own bed, the arms wrapped around her body felt like a protective veil, keeping the fear and anger at bay, if just for one night. It was nearly perfect.

“Byleth?” she muttered.

“Uh huh?”

“You don’t have to use my full name all the time.”

“Oh?”

Edelgard closed her eyes and smiled. She’d never let anyone this close.

“You can call me El. If you’d like.”

“Oh. That’s a nice nickname.” Byleth replied. She flopped her head onto the other end of the pillow, strands of her deep blue hair mixing with the ivory colored locks of Edelgard.

“Goodnight, El.”

In that moment, the spark of hope lit the flame in her heart, and Edelgard sunk into sleep’s embrace with a torch by her side.

There would be no nightmares that day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Super Secret Author's Notes:
> 
> -This is the chapter I wanted to write most in this whole fic. It's a little shorter than most of the latest ones have been, but I plan to make up for that with a bonus chapter.
> 
> I wanted to say thank you again for all of the wonderful support. This AMAZING fan-art by papers_ev (https://twitter.com/Papers_ev/status/1192188364029456384) absolutely made my night when I saw it, and I'm utterly blown away that my silly self-indulgent one-shot has grown as much as it has. I sincerely appreciate every comment, but most of all I just hope this story can brighten your day.
> 
> next time we jump the shark


	11. Lady Edelgard

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A shorter chapter than usual, bit of a bonus. Hope you enjoy!

In Byleth’s arms, Edelgard found that the nightmares that had so often plagued her did not come. The alternative, however, was soon to present itself.

The sound of shoes on tile woke Edelgard, and as she slowly blinked the sleep away from her eyes, she found that she was not where she left herself.

The room around her was opulent, with massive white stone pillars holding up a ceiling covered in gilded patterns. She wasn’t in her bed anymore, but instead could feel the plush of a red velvet couch on her fingers and feet. A fountain seemed to gush from somewhere nearby, judging by the sound of water trickling across rock, but the most curious thing about the room Edelgard found herself in was the other occupant.

A tall, thin man strode around the chamber, his eyes sharp and his posture perfect. A long black cloak spilled down his shoulders, which were adorned with silver pauldrons. His hair, the same color as his garb, was mussed, but in a way that appeared artificial and planned. This was not the look of someone who left anything to chance.

It was, however, the look of a professional, and Edelgard immediately set to guessing what could have happened. Clearly she had been taken by someone. Kidnapped, possibly drugged. The kidnappers could have been rivals of her father’s, operating in secret in the cutthroat world of finance. Perhaps they belonged to Arundel, finally tiring of watching her from the sidelines and adopting a much more aggressive gameplan to assure her obedience. Panic spiked in her chest as she remembered the woman who had shared her bed.

What had they done to Byleth?

“I assure you, Byleth is completely unharmed. She is fast asleep.”

In an instant, Edelgard was no longer on the couch, no longer even in the fancy room. She was in a metal chair, on a balcony that overlooked a lavish garden. Flowers of all shades she could think of flanked the platform, making a semi-circle around the table where she sat. Across the table was the man, a smirk adorning his face.

“Fear not. Everything is fine.”

Edelgard steeled her nerves, crossing her arms indignantly. “I will be the judge of that. Tell me, who are you? Are you working for Arundel?”

The tall man’s eyes narrowed, and he reached down to lift up a mug of some dark-brown liquid, taking a lengthy sip before responding.

“Lady Edelgard, you wound me. I would never associate myself with such filth.”

A thought formed in Edelgard’s head, too ridiculous to speak out loud, but just mad enough to be the only thing worth saying.

“Hubert? Is that you?”

He chuckled, spreading his arms.

“Indeed. In the flesh, Lady Edelgard.”

She began to stammer, using all of her composure to keep from bursting out into what felt like a mix of deep laughter and utterly terrified screaming. “Y-you...you’re...a human?”

“Mmm. It may appear that way, but I assure you, I am quite comfortable with my more...traditional form. No, Lady Edelgard, it is quite simple.”

With a flash of light, a warm cup of tea appeared in Edelgard’s hands, which she didn’t even recall having been in the position to receive it.

“I’m dreaming.” she whispered, and Hubert smiled.

“Indeed. Take a sip, it’s your favorite.”

Cautiously, she raised the china to her lips, narrowing her eyes at the mysterious man across the table. “Before I consume anything you’ve given me, I’d like to confirm your identity.” She felt a little silly for continuing to question the situation after she’d been teleported and given a magical teacup, but it wasn’t in her nature to accept charity and assume there were no strings attached.

Hubert (?) smirked. “A wise decision, Lady Edelgard.” He splayed his hands on the table, setting his mug between them. “My name is Hubert. I am a grey parrot, sometimes referred to as an African Grey Parrot, but considering that I was born in a pet store mere miles from here, I don’t believe the title is entirely accurate. I am twenty-six years old. You are Edelgard Hresvelg, daughter of Ionius Hresvelg, head of the Adrestia Group of banks. Volkhard Arundel has you under surveillance, and plans to manipulate you for his own ends, perhaps simply to have the Adrestia fortune in his coffers, though you suspect he may be after your skills as a chemist as well.”

Edelgard kept the cup hovering in front of her, still challenging the man with her stare. “None of that is news to my “uncle” or his lackeys.”

“You have recently fallen in love with a woman named Byleth Eisner.”

Edelgard’s eyes widened, but she stayed firm.

“You frequently think about her...ahem…” Hubert looked cross. “Her “stellar ass”.”

Cheeks flushed entirely red, Edelgard took a swig of the tea. It tasted like citrus and felt lovely as she let it cascade across her tongue. When she lowered the cup again, she gaped at Hubert.

“Fine, I suppose you are Hubert.” Edelgard took a deep breath. “Hubert? How do you KNOW that?”

A mischievous grin tugged at his sallow cheeks. “Why, Lady Edelgard, this is your dream, and I am but a figment of your resting mind. It would be much more concerning if I didn’t know what you thought about, would it not?”

Edelgard hummed for a moment, tapping a finger on her upper arm. “I suppose that makes sense.” She took another drink, swirling the tea in her mouth and marvelling at how real the taste seemed. “You probably already know this, but my dreams aren’t usually so...pleasant.”

Hubert nodded, leaning closer to the table. “Yes, I am well aware. What do you think has caused such a sudden shift, Lady Edelgard?”

She could feel a tinge of heat rise in her cheeks as she remembered the circumstances of her slumber. “Byleth. It’s Byleth, isn’t it? Getting all of this...off of my chest, I suppose.” With a languid nod, Hubert took a lengthy drink before responding.

“Perhaps. I am not an expert on this particular field, but that does seem the most logical conclusion.” Hubert’s brow twitched. “Tell me, Lady Edelgard, are you entirely comfortable with your actions?”

“What are you implying, Hubert?” 

“My apologies. I should have realized that you are not someone who appreciates cryptic speech. I am simply asking if trusting this woman is worth the risk.”

Edelgard winced. The way Hubert spoke about Byleth, as if she was a threat, bothered her. However, she couldn’t deny that the same thought had crossed her mind many times.

“She most certainly is.” Edelgard replied, her confidence surging as she said it.

“I don’t mean to disparage you, my lady, but we face a cunning foe. I have had the displeasure of making the acquaintance of Volkhard Arundel, and I must note, have yearned to remove the man’s eyes with my talons ever since. He is, in no uncertain terms, a foul, slithering creature with exactly the lack of scruples to send an agent into your personal life.” Hubert grimaced. “Lest we forget the situation with that scarlet-haired snake at Nabatea.”

As if noting the tempest brewing in her thoughts, Hubert adopted a soothing tone. “I simply wish the best for you, Lady Edelgard, and I must urge caution.”

Edelgard had always thought like a chemist. In her field, there was no room for emotion. No amount of pitying an acidic solution would make it eat through an errantly placed finger any slower, nor would sympathy for a bunsen burner prevent it from lighting your sleeve on fire. Logically, perhaps, trusting Byleth was an error, born from the remnants of hope that clung to her even after the world had tried to strip them away. Still, she could not deny her feelings for Byleth, and she didn’t feel that was entirely wrong.

In a flash, the table before them changed. Now it was long and wide, providing ample space for the felt playmat that suddenly separated them. Before her was a Fire Emblem scenario, her own army filled with familiar cards, while a similar setup waited before Hubert. She gave him a confused glance, and he flippantly waved a hand.

“I sensed you wanted to demonstrate a point, Lady Edelgard. I have provided the optimal means to do so.”

“...Thank you.” she muttered, looking at the board state before her. She was clearly on her last legs in the game, as was her opponent. She had a mere three units remaining: her lord “Hector, General of Ostia”, “Morgan, Gift from Afar”, and “Joshua, Tempest King”. Each of them had nearly enough damage counters placed on them to kill them, and a quick scan of Hubert’s units told her that they were all potent damage dealers. His lord, “Wolf, Aurelian Hero”, was similarly damaged. One way or another, the game would be over by the end of Hubert’s next turn.

“I believe it is your move, Lady Edelgard.” Hubert said. He flicked his spindly fingers against a single card in his hand. She lifted the teacup to her lips and tried to take a sip while she thought about her next move, but sputtered as something thin and waxy nearly slipped into her mouth. Wiping drops of tea off the table with one hand, she fished into the cup and pulled out a thoroughly soaked copy of the equipment card “Armads, Cursed Axe”. Her heart broke slightly for the value of such a rare card being ruined by water damage, before realizing that this was all a dream anyway.

“Alright. I attach Armads to Hector from my hand.”

Hubert raised an eyebrow. “An interesting maneuver.”

Edelgard slid Hector across the table, bumping him against Hubert’s Wolf.

“I attack Wolf for lethal damage.”

The cold smile returned to Hubert’s face, a phenomenon Edelgard was still getting used to. “Now, Lady Edelgard, I assume you know that Armads inflicts damage to its wielder after being used. Enough damage, in fact, to kill your lord.”

“And I assume that you know that the game immediately ends upon a Lord’s defeat, meaning that the match will be over before Armads’ effect can be applied, Hubert.”

Folding his arms, Hubert leaned back in his seat, his eyebrows raised. “You make this move, and yet, should this card in my hand have the ability to prevent damage, or to heal my unit in any way, it will absolutely cost you the game. Would it not be wiser to retreat and wait until you have a more concrete opportunity for victory?”

“I don’t believe so.” Edelgard responded. She stared at the card in Hubert’s hand as she spoke. “The longer I spend retreating, the more advantage I surrender to you. It may seem like buying myself time, but I believe such an action would only doom me to a more drawn out defeat.” She tapped the table with her fingers, a slight smile crossing her lips. “So, stop stalling and admit defeat.”

For a few moments, Hubert sat in silence, his dark eyes narrowing as he looked over the board. Finally, with a sigh, he dropped his final card to the table, revealing that it was utterly blank.

“Well, Lady Edelgard, I believe I understand your meaning. If this is the path you have chosen, know that I will always be there to support you.” He stood, placing both hands behind his back. “But I believe that it is nearly time for you to wake up. The days ahead will likely be exhausting, so I urge you to take care of yourself, but not to forget your goal.”

He extended a white gloved hand, and Edelgard shook it, smiling up at the taller man.

“Thank you, Hubert. I will be sure to give you extra birdseed this morning.”

He quirked an eyebrow. “You do realize, Lady Edelgard, that I am but a figment of your imagination, with no connection to the actual parrot.”

“Does that mean you are opposed to birdseed?”

“...If it does not trouble you, perhaps you could add a scant amount of extra birdseed.”

Edelgard had just now noticed that the decadent garden had faded away into a blinding white light, which was encroaching upon the balcony and moving closer every second. Hubert bowed his head before the flare engulfed him, and the next thing she knew, Edelgard was back in bed, staring into the button eyes of Byleth’s bear.

A piece of notebook paper with messy handwriting scrawled across it was dangling from one fluffy arm.

“Hey Edelgard,

i had to go home so i could make dad breakfast

wishing you the best, text me when you get up so we can make a time to meet up

keep the bear

Byleth”

Warmth filled her stomach as Edelgard pushed herself out of bed, stretching her arms while the morning sun glistened from her window. According to her bedside clock, she’d have to be at work in an hour, but there were more pressing matters to attend to.

She approached Hubert’s cage and gently tapped the metal bars, waking the sleeping parrot.

“Lady Edelgard! Lady Edelgard!” he chirped.

She measured out his breakfast, then tipped a little extra into the bowl.

“Thank you, Hubert."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Super Secret Author Notes:  
\- Hubert's lord is Wolf because Emperor Edelgard's design takes a lot of notes from Emperor Hardin, and Wolf was his right-hand man. They also both have haircuts that cover one of their eyes, but that was on accident.
> 
> This is a bit of a fun, fluffy chapter to bridge the gap into the next (and final) act of the story! We've still got a few more chapters to go, though!
> 
> Unfortunately, this is about where my detailed outline ends. As I mentioned, I didn't intend for this to be more than a one-shot at first, but it's grown. The next chapter may take longer than usual to come out, because I have a lot more work to do with filling in the nitty-gritty details of the plot than usual. (it has nothing to do with the new pokemon coming out shut up) I apologize for the potential longer wait, but I want to make sure this story is the best I can make it.
> 
> Feedback, as always, is welcome, and I hope you have a wonderful day!


	12. Eyes On You

Typically, Edelgard would have been hard pressed to call a Tuesday morning “exciting”. Her schedule was packed tightly on those days, beginning with teaching a 90 minute class before leaving for one of her own with Dr. Hanneman, and ending with nonstop research on her thesis document until the campus librarians took their lunch break. 

That had been the definition of a Tuesday morning for Edelgard for months now, but this one in particular felt special. There was an extra hop to her step as she paraded in front of her whiteboard, underlining the key components of a solvent she was discussing with her class. Not even the man in the front row poorly concealing the phone he was texting on broke her stride. She clicked quickly with Hanneman’s lessons, finding herself able to pick out the salient points in the excitable scholar’s usual stream of upbeat ramblings. Even the infamous computers at the Macuil Hall Research Library did her bidding, for once, finally managing to remember her account’s clearances and not asking her to contact a librarian for access to documents she already owned.

None of these things were entirely out of the ordinary, but Edelgard found herself appreciating the little victories more. Perhaps it was the renewed sense of hope burning in her chest now that she had settled on breaking Arundel’s chains, or the lovely memories of Byleth’s heart beating next to hers, curled up in her apartment’s bed. Maybe it was just because she’d had the first night of quality sleep that she could remember in months. Regardless of the reason, she decided to seize the moment, capturing every bit of joy she could squeeze out of the morning and trying to stuff it into the back of her brain.

Towards the end of her research period, halfway through the abstract of an article about synthetic polymers that threatened to bore her to tears, Edelgard’s phone saved her with a buzz.

[Byleth]: Hey :)

[Edelgard]: Hello!

[Edelgard]: Thank you again for last night, it means very much to me.

[Byleth]: good :)

[Byleth]: can we meet up for lunch

[Edelgard]: Certainly! When and where?

[Byleth]: dining hall in ten minutes?

[Edelgard]: Hmm...well, I would need to hurry.

[Byleth]: okay

[Byleth]: hurry

Wiping the smile off her face, Edelgard gave the abstract another hesitant scan before weighing her options. This scholarly article was preserved both digitally and in hard copy, nearly impossible to wipe from the face of the Earth. The chance to meet Byleth for lunch before the absentminded woman wandered off to follow a butterfly seemed far less permanent. With a whispered apology to Hanneman, Edelgard shut the computer off, slung her bag back over her shoulder, and walked out of the Macuil Hall Research Library, her steps slightly bouncier than normal.

The dining hall on Cichol’s first floor was often avoided by students during lunchtime. With the sheer number of restaurants nearby, and the typically well-stocked pocketbooks of its wealthy student body, the humble cafeteria was left for what Sylvain Gautier had coined “Shame Meals” in the wee hours of the morning. The deserted nature of the place suited Edelgard just fine, though, considering what she wanted to discuss with Byleth.

“You feeling any better?” Byleth asked, bits of bread dropping from her mouth and back onto one of the four plates she’d brought over.

Edelgard nodded. “I am. I...still can’t thank you enough for agreeing to help me.” She looked down. “I’d understand if you want to back out. This could be dangerous, and you’ve certainly done enough already. I wouldn’t bear a grudge.”

Silence hung in the air for a few moments. Edelgard felt her stomach churn for a moment before glancing up to see Byleth holding a finger in the air, still chewing on a particularly large bite of sandwich.

“I’m with you. Promise.”

“Right…” She smiled. “Then, let’s talk strategy. There are a few...complications.”

After double-checking that their chosen corner of the deserted dining hall was just as empty as she’d hoped, Edelgard leaned in and began to speak once more.

“There’s a woman at Nabatea, a new employee. Her name is Monica, and she works for Arundel.”

By the end of Edelgard’s description of her encounters with Monica, Byleth had finished her sizable meal, and had a frustrated grimace on her face.

“So...why don’t we tell Seteth about what’s going on?”

“Somehow I don’t think everyone will be as...welcoming to my story as you were.” Edelgard took a tentative sip of her drink. “In addition, we don’t know that he’s not one of Agartha’s cronies as well.”

At the sound of her last sentence, Byleth’s face twisted into a frown. “Seteth? But he seems so nice.” Edelgard narrowed her eyes.

“Perhaps. Perhaps too nice.”

“Or maybe...just nice?”

Edelgard leaned back in her chair, lightly gripping the arms. “Maybe. But there’s someone else we must discuss as well. His name is Claude Riegan.”

“Claude?” Byleth blinked. “The Claude from the game store? You don’t think…Edelgard...” She tapped her fingers on the table. “What happened?”

Watching Byleth’s face closely, Edelgard recounted the story of how Claude had tried to question her about Arundel appearing at her apartment, and how he’d lied about it being a request from Dorothea. There was no way he should have known any of that information, and while Edelgard was set in her suspicion, she could tell by the way Byleth stared at the table and twiddled her thumbs that there were mental wheels turning behind those stunning green eyes.

“I think we need to give him a chance.” Byleth said, waiting until Edelgard’s explanation had concluded. When Edelgard eyed her warily, Byleth hurried to explain. “We don’t know the full story. Let’s get some more information.”

“He wasn’t exactly interested in giving that to me.” Edelgard replied with a frown.

“Then we’ll get it ourselves. Didn’t you say he claimed to have seen you from across the street?”

“I did. Do you have a plan?”

“I do.”

Edelgard didn’t know how she felt about the smile slowly creeping its way onto Byleth’s face. But she’d decided to take one chance on her eccentric new friend before, and it had turned out well. There was certainly only one response.

“Then let’s begin.”

A mere few hours later, Edelgard wouldn’t say that she’d begun to regret her decision, per se. Simply that when someone who had demonstrated a tactical mind like Byleth’s proposed a plan, she had expected something daring and crafty, the sort of thing that took flow charts and corkboards covered in crimson strings. The kind of plot that would remain undetectable, impossible to guess until the stunning reveal.

Staking out the street in front of her apartment inside of a parked mobile home while Jeralt was busy at practice wasn’t exactly the glamorous espionage she’d imagined. She had to admit, though, things certainly could have been worse than an afternoon spent sitting next to Byleth, shoulders close together as they peered out a window.

“So...you said you’d seen someone else use this strategy?” asked Edelgard.

Byleth nodded. “Mmhmm.”

“Oh.”

“But it was a surveillance van.”

“Uh huh.”

“Disguised as an ice-cream truck.”

“Huh?”

“And they were vampires.”

“What?”

“In a movie.”

Edelgard directed an incredulous stare in Byleth’s direction. “We’re doing this because you saw it in a movie?”

Byleth’s lip twitched. “A movie I saw several times. We only had one VHS tape when I was a kid.”

Unable to contain herself anymore, Edelgard started giggling, the laughter bubbling up from the center of her gut.

“I’m sorry.” Byleth muttered.

“No, don’t be! It’s fine! It’s just...cute.” she responded.

“You think I’m cute?”

Edelgard had assumed that, if a higher power existed, surely it detested her, but the sudden thrumming of an engine that stole away both of their attentions at that precise moment could have been no less than an act of God. A bright yellow sedan came roaring down the street, loud in more ways than one.

“That’s him.” Edelgard whispered, ducking down so only the top half of her head was visible through the window. Byleth followed suit, turning to her with eyes wide open.

“Are you sure?

“Wait for it.”

As the car got closer to their RV, slowing to turn into the apartment building’s lot, the airbrushed deer on its left-side doors came into view.

“Oh.” Byleth said.

Kneeling on the couch, they watched as the car parked and Claude Riegan climbed out, a backpack slung over his shoulder and a box of takeout in his hands. He locked his car and headed for the building’s entrance, leisurely stepping across the cold asphalt.

“Let’s wait for him to get inside.” Edelgard said.

After Claude’s form disappeared into the building, Byleth leapt up from her seat, nearly dragging Edelgard along with her as she rushed out of the RV’s door. The chill autumn air that blew against her hair seemed to fill Edelgard with a mixture of energy and doubt.

“I can’t believe we’re really doing this!” she whispered, louder than she intended.

“First time for me too.” Byleth responded, and Edelgard couldn’t quite read her tone.

As they burst into the lobby, Edelgard scanned the room. An elderly man sat behind the front desk, his nose buried deep in a newspaper. The green carpet below them extended into a brightly lit hallway, and she could make out an elevator at its end. The red panels above it displayed the building’s floors, and only the fifth one was lit at the moment.

“He’s on the fifth floor.” she said, turning to Byleth. Nodding, Byleth pointed to the stairway.

Without another word, she dashed off into the stairwell, moving faster than Edelgard had ever seen her move before. Glancing back to see noone watching them, she sprinted away as well, trying to keep pace. Under any other circumstances, Edelgard would have welcomed the opportunity to walk up a staircase behind Byleth, but the fact that she didn’t exercise frequently proved a hindrance. By the time she’d reached the third floor, Byleth was completely out of sight, and by the fourth Edelgard swore she’d never skip the steps in favor of an escalator again. As she huffed and puffed her way onto the fifth floor, her stomach screaming in pain, she saw Byleth leaning next to the doorframe, looking calmly down at her.

“You...you didn’t go after him yet?” Edelgard panted.

Byleth shook her head. “I was waiting for you!”

After taking a few moments to catch her breath, Edelgard approached the door into the apartment building’s hallway, peering through the square glass porthole embedded in the center. She could see a tall window in the hall outside, and through it, the vague shape of her own building looming in the distance. She drew back, turning in Byleth’s direction.

“We’re in the right place. The room he’s using has to be in this hallway somewhere!”

Byleth nodded, turned to the door, and, as Edelgard realized she likely should have expected, immediately burst through it. Stifling a groan, Edelgard followed suit. 

The hallway was sparsely decorated with landscape paintings and potted plants. Every door lining the hall was closed, save one. An empty take-out bag, emblazoned with the same logo as the one Claude had been carrying, hung lazily from the knob, plundered of its contents. Edelgard watched as Byleth’s eyes strayed to the bag, gave her a determined nod, and began to walk towards the room. Her heart pounding, Edelgard joined her.

This was real, not a dream, nor a fantasy, but action. Her first strike against the tyranny of the man who haunted her nightmares and turned her world against her. There would be consequences, she knew, but her resolve held fast. You never, after all, won a game that you didn’t play.

Byleth reached the door first, and simply marched in, rapping her knuckles on the wood as if it was an afterthought. The sudden scream from inside was surprising, not just because of Byleth’s ill-mannered entrance, but because of the voice doing the screaming.

Far too high-pitched to be Claude Riegan.

Her focus shattered, Edelgard sprinted the few remaining steps, skidding into the room alongside Byleth. The apartment was painted a pastel pink color, and stuffed animals were set around it alongside advanced textbooks. The bed was made, the carpet spotless, and every surface appeared immaculate, except for one. Near the window, a folding chair was set up next to a pair of binoculars. Candy wrappers littered the surrounding floor, forming a small ring around a stack of foam take-out boxes. Sitting in the center of it all was a young woman, short and slight, with pink eyes and long white hair. Her mouth was agape and the take-out meal on her lap seemed forgotten, but most surprisingly of all, Edelgard suddenly knew exactly who had been spying on her.

“Lysithea? Lysithea Ordelia?”

Time seemed frozen to Edelgard as she tried to make sense of it all. She wanted to run over and scream at Lysithea, ask why she would dare intrude on her privacy like this, or to fall to her knees and beg for answers, just to help things make sense. Before she could do anything, Lysithea raised a shaking hand and took a fistful of pale white hair.

“You too?” she whispered, and suddenly everything began to fall into place. She barely noticed when someone walked into the room behind her and pulled the door closed, sighing to himself. 

“Okay.” said Claude, walking to the middle of the room, “I think everyone here needs to have a talk.”

Lysithea had been eight years old when her parents came to the room that she shared with her siblings and told her to pack her things. She was always an observant child, with a mind beyond her years, and she saw the way that their parents looked at them change. The bright smiles of her earliest days had given way to languid stares and listless frowns, scrubbed away when they noticed that she was looking. She noticed the way that their meals had shrunken down, the portions thinning for herself and her two brothers. At night, she could hear her father cursing the horses on television, screaming obscenities and pounding his fist against the arm of the chair. The meals always shrank after the horse races.

When she asked why, her mother had told her that it was because Lysithea and her brothers were sickly. Medicine wasn’t cheap, and money didn’t grow on trees. On the day that her mother had cheerfully announced that she’d found a solution to both of these problems, the ever watchful Lysithea couldn’t shake the doubt in the pit of her stomach.

There was a wonderful man who worked for a company called Agartha Chemical, and he’d made their parents an incredible offer. If the Ordelia children would come to his hospital and help with some clinical trials, he would pay their parents enough money to make sure they never had to worry about medicine again.

So she found herself, accompanied by her brothers, holding a bag of stuffed toys and a toothbrush, waiting before the doors of the tall steel building on the edge of town that would be her home for the next year.

The next part of the story was one that Edelgard knew all too well.

The treatments had turned the hair of the Ordelia siblings bone-white. When they returned home, convinced that every horror was but a nightmare, they found a more opulent house and more cheerful parents. They spent the next five years in a charade of normalcy, trying their best to forget everything about Volkhard Arundel and Agartha Chemical, except for the monthly check that came in the mail.

Everything changed again the day Lysithea’s younger brother got sick. Sicker than usual, paler and weaker than he had ever been, even before the treatments. When he passed away from pneumonia, they called it a tragic accident, the fault of no one. But Lysithea Ordelia was still wise beyond her years.

At the funeral, she decided she’d had enough of pretending.

No matter how hard she tried, she found nothing damning on the internet. No expose articles, no forum threads about children with white hair, not even any rumors about escaped Agartha branded bioweapons running rampant through sleepy towns (Lysithea had been unable to shake the jitters from a horror game she’d mistakenly bought). Her older brother had become withdrawn and moody, leaving home as soon as he turned eighteen and corresponding as rarely as possible. Her parents worshipped the ground Arundel walked on, so she knew they wouldn’t be of any help. It wasn’t until weeks before she prepared to go to graduate school that she found a lead in the most unlikely of places.

The GMU school newsletter published the achievements of its students in the proudest way it could, a chunky PDF buried at the bottom of the main web page. There, she saw a picture of a student named Edelgard Hresvelg, daughter of Ionius Hresvelg, and her bone-white hair. Her hopes soared as she researched the Hresvelg family, coming across pictures of a younger Edelgard with brown hair whilst stalking her social media and noting a mysterious gap in photos from ages 10 to 11. She was only further overjoyed on the day she moved in, catching sight of Edelgard exiting her car in the parking lot of the apartments across the street.

But Lysithea Ordelia was observant, and when she waited just a moment, her world fell apart as Volkhard Arundel stepped out of the car behind Edelgard.

Suddenly, she realized that there was another terrifying possibility, one she’d refused to consider. What if the Hresvelg woman was working with Arundel? She couldn’t risk giving away that she was digging up information on them, not anymore. She needed to know more.

And so, Lysithea Ordelia had bought a pair of binoculars, requested to trade apartments with another grad student, and begun her nightly ritual watching the front of Edelgard’s building, committed to learning whether or not she could be trusted.

“But it was...difficult.” Lysithea muttered, her eyes moving towards the bed where Claude sat. “So eventually I asked for the help of the one person I knew who was better at digging up secrets than anyone else.”

“So that’s how you knew.” Edelgard breathed, turning towards the leader of the Golden Deer. Looking far more serious than she could ever remember seeing him, Claude nodded, his brow furrowed.

“Lysithea’s a friend of mine. I wasn’t going to let her down.” His grin slowly returned. “After all, I am a Criminal Justice major. This is all pretty crucial stuff for my future as a private investigator.”

Edelgard eyed him suspiciously. “Is that one the truth, Claude?”

He chuckled. “Sure.”

Lysithea stood from her chair, her eyes downcast. “After he told me what you said to him, asking if he worked for Arundel, I realized I was wrong. You hate him too, don’t you? They used you like a guinea pig too, didn’t they?”

Mere days ago, Edelgard would have denied everything. She’d have scolded the Deer for transgressing her privacy and threatened legal action, anything to keep her secret safe. Now, though, she saw something new in Lysithea and Claude. Potential allies, ways to continue this fight without being alone. For the second day in a row, Edelgard swallowed her pride.

“They did. And I’m going to bring them down for it.”

She saw Byleth smile as Claude stood, rubbing his palms together.

“Excellent. Now then, who’s up for a little scheming?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one got done faster than expected!
> 
> Super Secret Author's Notes:  
\- Byleth eats whatever you put in front of her. It's a miracle that she has not eaten the delicious cards.  
\- The movie Byleth binge watched as a kid was called "Crime Sucks!: Vampire Teen Detectives!" and it's made by the Fodlan equivalent of the Olsen twins.  
\- I had to adjust Lysithea's backstory to account for there being no Empire or nobility in this fic. Apologies if it's a little rough, I may make revisions if people are unhappy with it.  
\- claude is a friend
> 
> The next chapter may take longer to come out than usual (for real this time), because I'm engaged in a Secret Santa event and I really want to make sure I have a high quality story for my recipient! There's also something I'm excited about brewing, a little proof of concept, that I hope I get to share with you soon.
> 
> is there anything else?
> 
> oh yeah we BROKE ONE THOUSAND KUDOS?!?!?!?!
> 
> I try to maintain a little veneer of professionalism, but I absolutely whooped when I saw that. Seeing this fic getting talked about absolutely makes my day every time. I adore every comment, piece of fan art, and person I can make smile with this silly little story about playing cards and big crushes. Thank you all so much for helping me to write something that I take a lot of joy in, and I hope you do too. Please feel free to leave any feedback, as usual, and I hope you have an absolutely wonderful day.
> 
> (one thousand what in the WORLD)


	13. Addendum: GMU Gazette, October 2019 Issue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The following article is taken from the October 2019 edition of Garreg Mach University's "GMU Gazette", an online publication staffed by students. In particular, this is the issue's "Dragon's Deep Dive" column, a recurring piece that focuses on a particular cultural topic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is, quite obviously, not intended to continue the story! Don't worry, that's coming, but I've been having some trouble writing the next chapter. To hold you over, and as a bit of a holiday treat, I've written up this history of the Fire Emblem card game! Enjoy!

Fire Emblem: An Ever-Burning Craze!

By: Ignatz Victor

Let me paint you a picture. You’re walking through Cichol Hall, on the way to one of Professor Hanneman’s lectures, when you see something rather strange. Two of your fellow students are sitting at a table, hunched over an array of cardboard cards. They’re moving them around, chatting to each other, and you look over to see who’s got the better hand. To your shock, you don’t see Clubs, Hearts, or Diamonds, but Swords, Dragons, and Heroes! What in the world might be going on?

I’m sure this isn’t new for most of you. The scenario I just described has become a pretty regular occurrence at Garreg Mach University! The addictive trading card game “Fire Emblem” is a fast growing hobby. A recent survey of two-hundred students indicated that 154 of them had already heard of the game, and 80 were either interested in playing or were already veterans!

This very week, many students will flock to the Nabatea card shop to participate in a release event for the game’s newest expansion set, “Crossroads”, due to come out on Thursday.

For this weeks “Dragon’s Deep Dive”, I’ll be exploring the history of this popular game, and examining just how it got to this point.

Fire Emblem’s first set, titled simply “Fire Emblem” was released to the public by Emblem Games in April of 1990. Newcomers were encouraged to purchase a starter deck, centered around use of the “Marth, Prince of Altea” card, to begin their collections. They could expand their decks through the purchase of booster packs, each containing ten randomized cards and a “How To Play” insert. Gameplay in this era of the game was extremely rudimentary, with many popular mechanics and card types utterly absent from its first set of 100 cards. Additionally, the game was not balanced properly, and it only took a few years for players to workout and spread (over rudimentary e-mail!) an “optimal” deck. Some cards from this era, such as a foil-treated “Camus, Black Knight”, sell for amounts in the hundreds at auctions.

Beginning in 1992, the game’s first expansion set, “Gaiden”, was released. This expansion started a trend that would become the norm for Fire Emblem expansions in the future, releasing in multiple pieces over the next year! However, of these two expansions under the Gaiden umbrella, “Zofian Faithful” and “Rigel’s Warriors”, that may be the only trend that stuck. The Gaiden cards are widely lampooned by fans as being bizarre and mostly unplayable in the game’s current state. Most of them contain almost no synergies with the original set’s cards, and “Gaiden Jank” is a popular term for new cards that are considered underpowered or poorly designed by fans. Still, Gaiden accumulated a cult fanbase, who spent many years organizing events dedicated to the strange set and even making petitions for Emblem Games to make a new set in the world established by Gaiden.

The game’s second major expansion, “Mystery Of The Emblem”, is lauded by many players as the best of its early years. “Mystery” reissued many cards based on characters from the original, but used the knowledge of four years of play to refine and rebalance these cards into a much more playable state. Notably, this set saw the first ever banning of a card from tournament play, due to its dominance. That card was “Sirius, Mysterious Knight”, and while the gradual increase in power of released cards over time has resulted in an unbanning, it is still often viewed as a symbol of power in the game.

The next two released expansions, “Geneology Of The Holy War” and “Thracia 776”, were the first to tell an overarching story, with a companion novel given out to each attendant of Thracia’s first release event. These sets, often referred to as the “Jugdral Duology”, also introduced a brand new ability that could be added to cards. “Inheritance” allowed some cards to confer bonuses upon other cards as they were defeated on the field. The mechanic proved somewhat unpopular, and has only seen a resurgence in very recent years, to much more acclaim.

Continuing with the format established by the Jugdral Duo, the next expansion set was meant to be part of a larger story. “Binding Blade” introduced “Equipment” cards, which could be attached to your Hero cards to create more powerful units. To hype up the set, Emblem Games hid several specially marked rare equipment cards around their home city and encouraged fans to go on “treasure hunts” to “uncover the lost weapons of the past!” This marketing event was a disaster, resulting in over twenty reported break-ins and at least one fistfight. Urban legend claims that one card, supposedly hidden under the CEO’s desk, resulted in a robbery of Emblem Games itself, but they have never acknowledged the rumor publicly.

For the follow-up set, “Blazing Blade”, Emblem Games had a much safer, but no less risky, idea. They changed the layout of booster packs entirely, now offering twelve cards instead of their previous ten, and changing their distribution so that each pack would now contain one rare card, guaranteed, with a chance for a second. They also pushed for much heavier marketing and wider distribution, pushing the game on television, radio, and even billboards in major cities. Some fans were rankled by the changes, preferring the rush of opening a pack with less predictable results and the relative niche status of their hobby, but in the end the set was a massive success, and is often said to be the reason that Fire Emblem survived into the 2000’s. The most memorable card from the set may be “Mine”, an innocuous Event card that allowed the player to lay a trap on the battlefield. While initially considered laughably week, a loophole in the wording of the card allowed for clever players to exploit it in a way that eventually, through a bizarre chain of effects buried deep in the game’s rules, allowed them to take control of their opponent’s heroes and swiftly win the game! The card was banned and the rules were changed, but the comedy of the situation was not lost on players. To this day, one of the most popular comments on any social media post from Emblem Games is almost guaranteed to be “FREE MINE”.

In 2004’s “Sacred Stones”, more radical changes were made, this time to the gameplay itself! New “Monster” units were released, and the familiar Hero cards were given an aesthetic makeover to match a new set of rules and mechanics. The fan backlash was immediate, and the set is often viewed poorly today. One card, “Seth, Silver Knight” is widely considered the most powerful Fire Emblem card ever printed, and is currently banned from any and all tournament play.

Returning to the duology structure, “Path of Radiance” and “Radiant Dawn” introduced cards with the popular “Transformation” ability, allowing them to be flipped over to reveal a second form for the depicted character. Justified in the setting as “a land of shapechangers”, the mechanic produced raucous debate and lead to the requirement of using opaque card sleeves in tournament play. The fans are still often split on whether Transformation was a needless gimmick or a great source of strategic gameplay, but it has returned many a time in newer sets.

To celebrate the game’s upcoming twentieth anniversary, the 2000’s ended for Fire Emblem with a pair of releases, “Shadow Dragon” and “New Mystery Of The Emblem”, revamped versions of some of the game’s earliest sets. Fans were ultimately disappointed that “Shadow Dragon” brought few brand new cards, creating a rather stale environment, and Emblem’s attempt to fix the problem with more content in “New Mystery” was stymied by a poor fiscal year and printer malfunctions leading to a very limited release. At this point, many established fans expressed their opinions that the game was dying, leading to a small exodus of players.

Operating on this feedback, teetering on the edge of disaster, the team at Emblem Games knew they needed a strong expansion to win back the crowd. Another sweep of changes to the game’s rules and booster pack structure accompanied their last ditch effort, “Fire Emblem: Awakening”. “Awakening” was touted as a reinvention of the game, and released with a plethora of content specifically designed to teach newcomers how to play. To interest old fans, every pack of Awakening contained a special curated slot that was guaranteed to contain a fan-favorite card from the game’s history. The expansion was a smash hit, and sold better than any expansion before it ever had.

In 2015, Emblem Games released cryptic advertisements, telling players that they would soon have to “Pick A Side”. These alluded to the release of the game’s thirteenth expansion set, “Fates”. At the release event, players had to choose a faction from the game’s fiction to support, the peaceful land of Hoshido or the militaristic kingdom of Nohr. They would receive packs loaded with cards that corresponded to that faction, and fans widely loved the aspect of choice this system added to the gameplay.

In a release that baffled players and left many wondering if April Fool’s had arrived, the game’s next set was entitled “Shadows Of Valentia”, and was a remake of the infamous “Gaiden” set. The combination of a remake set, which had proved unpopular just years earlier, and a return to the butt of every joke, Gaiden, left fans scratching their heads. However, when the set was released, it did fairly well in sales, but was wildly popular among established fans, who loved the new versions of classic cards and added aspects that made the set much more fun to play.

The newest release, Crossroads, is said to be a celebration of the franchise as a whole, and contains characters from every previous set. It may be easy to call such a move a tad self-indulgent, but with the way Fire Emblem has established itself as a staple of game stores and kitchen tables everywhere, I find it hard to deny them this opportunity to revel.

I would encourage any readers who have interest to come to Nabatea on a Thursday night, when the store holds its Fire Emblem tournaments. Talk to the players, see if you can try a game, and if you’re interested, pick up a Starter Deck from Seteth. Sooner or later, you might find yourself hooked, slinging cards with the rest of us and cheering on your favorite store league team.

Go Golden Deer!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Super Secret Author's Notes:  
\- Look pretty much every joke in this chapter is a reference. It's all incorrigible FE nerd stuff and I am very sorry.  
\- Edelgard thinks Geneology was the best expansion. Dimitri prefers Mystery of the Emblem. Claude's a Sacred Stones man.


	14. Cat and Mouse

There was never much business at Nabatea the day before a new Fire Emblem set released. Most of the store’s die-hard fans would be at home reading up on the upcoming cards, formulating strategies, or trying to get extra sleep in. They mostly were college students, after all. Seteth had to take a second look when he spied Edelgard, of all people, pushing her way through the door on Wednesday afternoon.

“Good evening.” he said, looking away from his busywork polishing the glass case atop the counter. “Forget to pick anything up for tomorrow, Edelgard?”

She shook her head. “I’m quite prepared, Seteth. I’m actually here to fulfill an offer I made to one of your employees.” Edelgard smiled. “Is Monica here?”

As Edelgard took the last step off of the basement stairs, breaching the stagnant air of Nabatea’s gaming area, a high-pitched voice trilled in greeting.

“Edel! What a surprise!”

Monica sat before a large plastic box, one hand still halfway inside as the other waved enthusiastically. She chuckled, tucking a stray lock of red hair behind her ear.

“Didn’t think I’d be seeing you here! Come on over, take a seat!” A giggle floated from between Monica’s lips, and Edelgard swore she saw a smirk beneath the smile. “Or I could come to you! Whichever you’d like!”

Undeterred, Edelgard marched forward, calling on the familiar location to don the Emperor’s armor. Unlike usual, though, she wore a smile, daring Monica to match it. It was, of course, all part of an act, one that had her heart pounding against the inside of her chest, but Edelgard had never been one to give up easily. She lowered herself into the chair opposite Monica, looping her bag around the arm of the seat. Idly, Monica began to tap her fingers on the tabletop, looking uneasily similar to a nature documentary Edelgard had watched once about a wolf sizing up its prey.

_Claude,_ she thought to herself, keeping the false smile plastered to her face at all costs, _This had better work._

Mere moments later, Seteth was combing through a book he kept beneath the counter, a rarely used method of passing the time. Typically, were there not customers about, he’d make his own work, but today was one of those ever elusive days on which not even the industrious Seteth could force himself into any more chores. It was almost a relief when the bell above Nabatea’s front door tinkled gently, heralding the arrival of Byleth.

“Ah, hello.” Seteth said, folding the book between his palms. “May I help you find anything today?”

“No.” Byleth said. She approached the counter and looked up, fixing Seteth with a look he couldn’t quite discern. “Can I show you something?”

“Erm.” His eyes widening, Seteth frowned. “What would you like to show me, ma’am?”

As the young woman before him reached into the pocket of her jacket, Seteth, just for a moment, cherished the knowledge that his store had lasted at least a decade without being robbed.

With the seemingly wide-eyed glee on her face as she shuffled the deck of cards in front of her, Edelgard found herself obnoxiously reminded of how well Monica could keep up her gleeful facade.

“I’m so honored you agreed to teach me to play, Edel!” Finally placing her borrowed deck back on the table, Monica beamed. “It’s gonna be pretty helpful to get tips from a pro!”

“Well, for your first tip, we’re going to need to swap decks for a moment. The rules say that you must cut your opponent’s deck yourself before the game begins. Just to avoid cheating.”

With a giggle, Monica handed her deck of cards over, taking Edelgard’s into her hands. “My, Edel, cheating? Really? And here I thought you trusted me!”

A chill of annoyance trickled up Edelgard’s neck as she cut Monica’s deck. “It’s just part of the rules. Nothing personal.”

With an almost lazy motion, Monica picked the top card off of Edelgard’s deck and slid it onto the bottom. “Is that enough?”

“Just. Now, we each place our Lord onto the battlefield, then draw a hand of six cards.”

“Mmkay! Then what.”

“Then,” Edelgard replied, lifting her grip of cards in front of her chest. “We can begin to play.”

Perhaps it was simply the mistrustful state she was in, but a mere few minutes into their first match, Edelgard found it hard to believe that Monica had never played Fire Emblem before. She seemed to be a natural, moving her cards around the table decisively and with only a rare question or two as to the rules. She was, naturally, no match for the Emperor, but for once winning at Fire Emblem was second on Edelgard’s mind.

“How’s my uncle been?” she asked, as Monica fiddled with the cards in her hand.

“Oh, I don’t get to talk to the big guy much, but I think he’s just peachy!” She raised an eyebrow, her lip curling. “And I’m sure he’d want me to say hello. He does love you ever so much, you know.” Monica tapped an orange nail onto Edelgard’s Lord. “I’m gonna have Clarisse deal five damage to Arvis.”

The damage was unexpected, but negligible enough. Edelgard had extended Michalis further forward to bait Monica’s attacks, but she’d evidently seen through the bait. She hadn’t become Nabatea’s most winning player without a few other tricks, though. Picking a card from her hand, Edelgard reinforced her rear line. “I’ll play Limstella on my backmost fort, and expend her Meteor tome to kill Clarisse.”

“Hmm. Darn. That goes through!” As Monica removed her Sniper from the board, Edelgard reconsidered her plan of attack.

“How’s work at Nabatea?” she asked, watching carefully as Monica surveyed the battlefield. “I imagine things may be quite hectic with the upcoming event.”

“We’re keeping busy! Of course, I’m excited to go to the release and see how all the work panned out!” She dropped a card onto the table, leaving the face of Orson, Heartbroken Paladin gazing up at the both of them. “I’ll see if I can get permission to watch your matches! Cheer you on! Ever had a cheerleader before, Edel?”

“I have not. Although that may be because the game rules explicitly forbid any outside assistance during sanctioned matches.”

With an exaggerated sigh, Monica tossed her head back, flinging scarlet hair over the top of the worn metal chair. “Rules, rules, rules. Why not loosen up a bit? I’ll always be here for you, y’know.” She flashed a jovial wink. “That’s just part of my job!”

Keeping her lips taut and her face emotionless, Edelgard moved Arvis two spaces forward, preparing a magical assault on Monica’s armored front line. “I don’t believe I’ll allow you to do that, Monica.”

“What?”

Enjoying the bit of annoyance that seemed to have crept into Monica’s expression, Edelgard nodded. Arvis casts Elfire on Tauroneo, 12 damage. Does that resolve?”

“Yeah, sure, of course. But Edel, dear, are you trying to shoo me away? How rude! You aren’t going to squish my poor little heart like that, are ya?”

As the conversation surged closer to a breaking point, Edelgard found shelter in the same place that she so often did. In her mind’s eye, she stood atop an ancient forest ruin, flecks of dust and stone speckling her Emperor’s armor. Monica was opposite her, streaks of dark makeup on her face, laughing like the confrontation was all a game.

Edelgard had never done well with being laughed at.

“I will not allow you to interfere in my business.” she stated, gripping the two remaining cards in her hand. With a flourish, she placed one on the table, emblazoned with the image of a white wing. “I’ll activate a Speedwing on Arvis, allowing him to double attack Tauroneo. That’s 24 damage, your General has fallen.”

Monica scowled, her cheerful demeanor faded for just a moment. “Well, I’ve got more where he came from. And, uh, sorry, dear, but I work here, remember? What do you mean “not allow me to interfere?” She chuckled, rolling her eyes. “Do you expect me to leave?”

Edelgard didn’t even look up from her remaining card as she replied.

“I do.”

An expression settled on Monica’s face that Edelgard found, admittedly, viscerally entertaining. A mix of annoyance and disgust painted the spy’s features.

“Well, sorry, honey, but I work here, remember? Wrong side of the bed this morning?” Monica’s voice, which seemed to have unconsciously pitched down, bounced back to its usual heights as she giggled. “Maybe a little shock will wake you! I’ll reveal a Bolting from my hand and do lethal damage to your little dragon riding friend. Bye-bye, Michalis!”

“Not quite.” Edelgard tapped a finger on one of the cards closest to her end of the table. “I’ll use Sephiran’s ability, “Eternal Faith”, and give one of my allied units immunity to magic damage this turn. I’ll select Michalis as my target. Bolting’s damage does not apply.”

“He can just DO that?” Monica asked, incredulous.

“Indeed.” Edelgard added. She raised an eyebrow at her opponent. “I did tell you that you could simply ask about any rules or cards you did not understand. I’m surprised you didn’t ask.”

Monica’s face softened. “Well, then. May I take that little goof back?”

“No. You’ll learn much more if I allow you to make mistakes.” A playful smirk rose. “You do want me to teach you to play, do you not?”

“You’re surprisingly rude, Edel.” Monica replied.

“You may concede at any time.”

Monica sighed, leaning back as she shook her head. “You know, this isn’t going to work.” She rebounded, leaning across the table, the ends of her red bangs nearly tickling the tip of Edelgard’s nose. “Someone is keeping me very well supplied to keep an eye on you.”, she whispered, not breaking eye contact.

Unbowed, Edelgard stared right back, refusing to even blink. “I know that. I know what he wants, the kinds of things he does. But you won’t take this from me. I’m finished lying down and letting that man stomp all over me. You were never really a threat, Monica.”

“Oh, yeah?” Monica uncurled, settling back into her chair as she crossed her legs, smiling sweetly. “Is that so?”

“Of course.” At the sound of footsteps, Edelgard played her final card. “I’ll use Spirit Dust on Arvis and activate Hellfire. Thanks to Canas’ ability, the effectiveness of the Dust is doubled, raising Arvis’ magic stat to the point needed to slay your Lord.” She swept Arvis across the table, bumping him into the side of Monica’s “Jaffar, Angel of Death” card. “Do you have a response?”

Before Monica could answer the question, an angry Seteth burst into the basement, his brow furrowed.

“Boss! Nice to see ya!” Monica chirped, but Nabatea’s owner was no longer in the mood for games.

“Miss Van Ochs.” Seteth’s voice was at a tone Edelgard had never heard before. She’d seen him upset at defective product or mishandled deliveries, seen him annoyed at Sylvain’s antics or the early Christmas music on the mall speakers, but she realized now that she had never before seen Seteth truly angry. “Have you been threatening one of our customers?”

“Sir? What do you mean?” Monica, ever the talented actress, looked horrified. “There must be some kind of mistake, I would never-”

From his pocket, Seteth withdrew a chunky and battered phone. The screen shone with a dull green glow, and block letters illuminated the phrase “SPEAKER ON” on its surface. As realization dawned on Monica, she whirled her head in Edelgard’s direction, snarling as the Hresvelg heir revealed her own phone, tucked away in the pocket of her jacket. The same words blinked on its screen.

In what seemed like an instant, Monica changed. Her posture straightened, and she sat tall in her seat, revealing that she loomed over Edelgard at her true height. The playful look on her face was gone, replaced with a cold sneer.

“Why, Seteth, I’m surprised by you. A businessman who’s been in operation as long as you ought to know that there are some serious consequences for spying on your employees.” She exposed her back teeth. “I’ve never wanted to own a card shop before, but if that’s what the lawyers think I’ll get…”

“You may want to ask those same lawyers about the legality of using a false ID when submitting an application to be employed, Miss…Monica.” The last word slid off of Seteth’s tongue as if it were made of sludge.

The younger woman stood, gazing up at the stern face of Nabatea’s stoic owner. “Is that so? Care to see who’s been naughtier?”

Seteth tilted his head. “By all means. Lob your accusations at a man whose shop has earned the accolades of half the town. See how many witnesses you can find to call me the type of person to abuse or intimidate his workers. We’ll simply have to see how that works out for you.”

Silence rung in Edelgard’s ears as Monica and Seteth simply stood, staring eachother down for what felt like an eternity. Eventually, Monica seemed to pull back, looping her bag around her arm. 

“Very well. Consider this my resignation.”

“Gladly.” Seteth replied. “And if you ever enter my establishment again, I will contact the Garreg Mach Police.”

Monica turned on her heels, gave Edelgard a withering look, and disappeared up the stairs. Moments later, a clattering sounded on the steps, and Edelgard looked up just in time to see Byleth jogging down, her eyes wide.

“Did it work? Did she leave?”

“She did.”

Byleth quickly approached the chair, and suddenly opened her arms, wrapping Edelgard in an unexpected embrace. She could already feel the blush starting to form on her cheeks, but couldn’t help but lean into it anyway, resting her forehead on Byleth’s shoulder until she pulled away. Clearing his throat, Seteth began to speak.

“Miss Hresvelg. Byleth here informed me that you have been experiencing harassment at the hands of one of my employees. I must admit, I was hesitant to believe such a serious accusation, but given the evidence she showed me… I extend my most gracious apologies, both as a business owner and a person.” He held out his hand in Edelgard’s direction, and she reached up to shake it. His expression, however, was as unreadable as usual. “However, there is something I feel that I cannot ignore.”

Seteth swept his arm across the basement. “Miss Hresvelg, Nabatea is my place of business. It is the source of my meals, my car, my home, and the very clothes on my back. More importantly than that, it provides all of these things for my daughter.” His eyes narrowed. “Given the circumstances, I must ask what in the world is going on between you and Monica.”

“I’m sorry, Seteth.” Edelgard replied. “I can’t tell you that.”

“Perhaps I was not clear. This establishment frequently plays host to my daughter, Edelgard. I just learned that someone, for some nefarious reason, made use of it to stalk you, and after a cryptic conversation requiring espionage, I was forced to fire an employee for the safety of a customer.” He sighed. “If you’re involved in anything dangerous or illegal, Edelgard, that is your business. But I cannot have those sorts of things in my store. Not near Flayn.” Seteth shook his head, exasperation written on his face. 

“If you will not prove to me that you are not a danger to my store and my daughter, I am afraid that I will have to ban you from Nabatea.”

Bile rose in Edelgard’s gut at the thought of losing her safe haven, so soon after she’d just managed to recover it. She could see Byleth’s hand clenching around the arm of the chair, but she had no words. Edelgard stood, reaching a hand out and lightly brushing the back of Byleth’s palm with her fingers, giving the taller woman a quizzical look as she turned to face her. There was a moment of hesitation, Byleth’s face blank and stern, before she nodded.

“Seteth,” Edelgard said, “Please lock the door. What I am about to tell you, you cannot spread to anyone.”

As Edelgard concluded her story, she noticed she was nearly limp in her seat. Evidently the emotional toll took more out of her physicality than she had noticed when she confessed to Byleth. Seteth, in sharp contrast, was standing as still as he had ever been, his arms folded tightly across his chest and his brow furrowed as if he was deep in thought.

“I...I am very sorry to hear that you have been through so much.” he finally whispered, a frown creasing his forehead. “That explains the situation enough. You will always be welcome at Nabatea.”

A sigh of relief escaped Edelgard’s throat, and she felt as if a spring in her body was slowly uncoiling. 

“Thank you, Seteth. I’m sorry that things went this far. We won’t be getting you involved in this again, I promise.”

“I appreciate that.” Turning around, Seteth straightened out his shirt before beginning to ascend the stairs. “But you needn’t worry. As I said, you are always welcome at Nabatea. And Edelgard?”

He stopped in his tracks, waiting for a response.

“Yes?”

“You’re certain you don’t wish to contact the authorities?”

“I am.”

“But you are still looking for other methods of help?”

“I suppose so.”

“Hmm. Very well. In that case, there’s someone I need to call.”

As Seteth disappeared up the steps, Edelgard dismissed the urge to follow and ask questions. There was a more intriguing target right in front of her.

“Thank you so much, Byleth.” she said.

Byleth grinned, a twinkle in her eye. “You’re smiling again.”

Edelgard giggled. “Am I? I suppose I’m quite pleased.”

“I like that.” Somewhat clumsily, Byleth slid into the seat opposite Edelgard, eyeing the scattered cards Monica had left behind. “It looks like this game didn’t get finished.”

“Oh, no.” Edelgard pointed to her units moving in on Jaffar. “I’m about to win.”

A small grin unfurled on Byleth’s face. “Oh, are you?” She swept her hand over the board. “I’ll activate Pelleas’ ability to sacrifice himself and prevent the damage from a single killing blow. Any response?”

Edelgard blinked. “Oh, no, but-”

“Okay. My turn?”

The smile, Edelgard found, didn’t seem to want to leave her face.

Cethleann’s was far busier than Edelgard ever remembered seeing it. Judging by the amount of briefcases resting atop tables and the abundance of button-down shirts, she assumed she had to have walked into some sort of company business outing.

“Ready, Edie?”

Dorothea was sauntering down the gap between tables, expertly swiveling out of the way of jutted out plastic chairs and meandering customers. She held a pair of plastic cups in her hands, each filled to the brim with a bright red liquid. Whistling, she slid into the green metal seat opposite Edelgard, a grin teasing the edges of her face.

“One passion-fruit and strawberry mix, no kale, no lettuce, no ingredients with over five syllables. Someone’s in a good mood, huh?”

Edelgard grinned, taking the drink from Dorothea and raising it to her lips. “I suppose.”

“Ooh!” Dorothea’s eyebrows danced up and down as she leaned over the table, the remaining drink clenched in her hand. “That’s what I like to hear! Why might that be?”

“Why do you think, Dorothea?”

“Hmm…” Dorothea began to tap a finger on the edge of the table. “New spicy combo for one of your decks in Crossroads?”

Edelgard shook her head.

“You got another paper published?”

Edelgard shook her head.

“Hubert met another parrot, they’ve fallen deeply in love?”

Edelgard shook her head once more, and Dorothea tossed her free hand up in defeat. “Well, you’ve stumped me.”

After another casual sip of her drink, Edelgard spoke up. “I had a lovely conversation with Byleth.”

“Oh! That’s great!” Dorothea lifted the cup to her lips, totally unaware of the circling eagle about to strike.

“In my bed.”

Dorothea Arnault, Edelgard had accepted, would never stop being one of the most beautiful women she knew. However, in that moment, with her eyes nearly bulging out of her head and a frankly concerning amount of strawberry-passion fruit smoothie being launched out of both her mouth and nose, she did manage to look pretty ridiculous.

Revenge was sweet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is arriving later than expected, and I apologize for the wait. A combination of other projects and holiday prep had me busier than usual, but a very bad case of writers' block definitely managed to hit as well! I hope you're still sticking with the fic, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! As always, feedback is both welcomed and very much appreciated. I love hearing what you have to say about the story!
> 
> Super Secret Author's Notes:  
\- Monica's deck is themed after playable units that are also bosses, or in Jaffar's case, at least major antagonists. I know Monica isn't playable but look:  
\- Seteth is too old for this shit.  
\- Claude wanted to use walkie-talkies for the scheme but this was way more practical. He still bought the walkie-talkies, just for fun.


	15. Text Logs, Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another bonus chapter! Happy New Year!

Wednesday, 11:45 PM

Black Eagles Group Chat  
(You are an Admin)  
Eight Members

[Edelgard]: @Everyone The Crossroads pre-release is tomorrow! The event begins at Nabatea at 5:00 PM, but I would like everyone to aim to arrive earlier for strategy discussion.

[Caspar]: hell yeah!

[Linhardt]: no

[Edelgard]: Please let me know if you will be attending!

[Caspar]: of course!

[Linhardt]: not until 5

[Ferdinand]: I shall be there with bells on!

[Dorothea]: You got it!

[Petra]: I have put it on my calendar!

[Caspar]: byleth?

[Edelgard]: ATTN: Byleth

[Dorothea]: Oh, Bernie said to tell you guys Byleth said she’s coming.

[Linhardt]: huh

[Linhardt]: why aren’t they here now

[Dorothea]: Bernie’s on the phone with her trying to help her get the laptop she leant her set up

[Caspar]: she doesn’t have a computer?

[Linhardt]: she lives in a car

[Caspar]: a car can have a computer!!!!

[Ferdinand]: Technically, most cars do contain computers.

[Linhardt]: fuck both of u

[Edelgard]: Behave.

[Edelgard]: The format for tomorrow’s event, as you should all know if you read the primer, is Team Sealed Deck. We’ll each receive four packs of Crossroads and be expected to make decks with them, and then play in 2 on 2 matches.

[Petra]: I have been reading many articles on sealed deck strategies!

[Dorothea]: so studious!

[Petra]: :D

[Dorothea]: : )

[Ferdinand]: Do we have team assignments prepared?

[Caspar]: lin and me are gonna stomp ‘em!

[Petra]: I am joining with Ferdinand!

[Ferdinand]: We’ve got this.

[Edelgard]: That leaves Byleth, Dorothea, and myself.

[Dorothea]: actually, I promised Sylvain I’d team up with him. but our team is still going to be registered under the Eagles.

[Edelgard]: Then I will join forces with Byleth.

Private Message from [Dorothea]: ;)

Private Message from [Dorothea]: you’re welcome

[Caspar]: sylvain???

[Dorothea]: he comes to cethleann’s a lot

[Dorothea]: figured i’d get his help

[Linhardt]: he’s gonna flirt with u the whole time

Private Message to [Dorothea]: Do not taunt me

Private Message to [Dorothea]: But thank you

[Dorothea]: I know, but i’m used to it, plus I poached a Lion :p

[Caspar]: dorothea entering the horny crossfire zone 4 the sake of the team...r.i.p.

[Linhardt]: rip

[Ferdinand]: rip

Private Message from [Dorothea]: so are you going to ask her out

Private Message to [Dorothea]: Unlikely.

[Petra]: Dorothea is a true team player and an excellent person!

[Dorothea]: aklfsjdslajk PETRA <3 <3 <3

Private Message from [Dorothea]: boooooooo

Private Message from [Dorothea]: scaredy-edie

Private Message to [Dorothea]: Do Not.

[Petra]: It is true!

Private Message from [Dorothea]: you have no authority over me, scaredy-edie

Private Message to [Dorothea]: I am the team captain!

Private Message from [Dorothea]: pfffffffft

Private Message from [Dorothea]: all talk

[Edelgard]: There is one last matter on the agenda for this evening.

[Linhardt]: it’s not an agenda you just texted us

[Edelgard]: Look at this picture of Dorothea.

[Edelgard sent an image: smoothiedoro.png]

[Dorothea]: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[Caspar]: ahahahahahahahahahahaha

[Linhardt]: lol

[Ferdinand]: Holy Shit

[Dorothea]: YOU TOOK A PICTURE ?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?SALKFJLKJAF

Private Message to [Dorothea]: You played with fire, enjoy your burn.

[Petra]: Is it coming out of her nose?

[Dorothea]: *dead*

[Caspar]: doro btfo

[Edelgard]: See you all tomorrow!

Thursday, 8:25 AM

Blue Lions Discussion Room

(You Are An Admin)

Seven Members

[Dimitri]: Good morning, everyone! I hope you are all excited for this evening’s event!

[Annette]: :heart: :heart: :clap: :heart: :lion: :heart: :heart: :heart: :lion: :heart:

[Dimitri]: Good spirit, Annie!

[Ashe]: I am!

[Dedue]: As am I.

[Dimitri]: Great to hear it, both of you!

[Felix]: it’s too early 

[Felix]: don’t fucking notify me at 8 in the morning dimitri

[Dimitri]: Good morning, Felix!

[Felix]: you’re an asshole

[Annette]: Oh, Dimi! My friend got off work, she can come! :sun: :heart:

[Dimitri]: Great!

[Annette]: And if we play as a team under my name, we should be able to still get Lions points! :lion: :lion: :lion:

[Dimitri]: I’m glad to hear it. We’ll need all we can get to keep our lead.

[Sylvain]: edel’s going as aggro as always, huh?

[Ingrid]: She’s determined.

[Ashe]: also a little bit scary tbh

[Dimitri]: I have known Edelgard for over fifteen years, she is not scary.

[Ashe]: Doubt

[Ingrid]: Doubt

[Dimitri]: Edelgard is only a little bit scary.

[Felix]: well sylvain is a traitor and he’s helping her

[Sylvain]: eyyyyyy

[Ingrid]: What do you have to say for yourself?

[Sylvain]: Gotta be honest. Did it all for that thicc Doro-booty. :eyes:

[Dimitri]: :roll-eyes:

[Ingrid]: ughhhh

[Ashe]: :( :( :( :( :(

[Felix]: if she doesn’t murder you i’ll finish the job

[Sylvain]: IT WAS A JOKE

[Sylvain]: WE’RE JUST FRIENDS

[Sylvain]: SHE’S A HOT FRIEND BUT STILL

[Annette]: Sylvain stop being horny for five minutes i’m inviting Mercie!

[Sylvain]: wow

[Mercedes] has joined the chat!

Private Message from [Claude]: hey dimiiiii.... ;)

[Mercedes]: Oh hi everyone! \\(*-*)

Private Message to [Claude]: I do not trust the winky face.

[Ingrid]: Hello, Mercedes!

[Dedue]: Nice to meet you.

Private Message from [Claude]: don’t worry, it’s nothing bad.

Private Message from [Claude]: i just have an offer...that you...probably shouldn’t refuse.

[Ashe]: hi Mercedes!

Private Message to [Claude]: Tell me more.

Thursday, 10:30 AM

[Welcome To Loog’s Dominion Online, Version 4.35!]

[Welcome, “byleth”, to the world of LDO! We hope you enjoy your adventures in this mystical world! Please contact us with any questions by clicking the “Help” button in the bottom-right corner of your screen!]

[You have received a Group Invite from “Lady Bernadalia, Tyrant Of The Scarlet Horde, Slayer Of Kings”. Accept?] [Yes/No]

[You have joined a group.]

[Lady Bernadalia, Tyrant Of The Scarlet Horde, Slayer Of Kings]: hey!!!! you made it!

[byleth]: hello

[byleth]: i made a guy

[Lady Bernadalia, Tyrant Of The Scarlet Horde, Slayer Of Kings]: i’ll come meet you! still in kv, right?

[byleth]: kv? 

[Lady Bernadalia, Tyrant Of The Scarlet Horde, Slayer Of Kings]: King’s Valley, the newbie zone

[byleth]: haven’t moved

[byleth]: don’t know how

[Lady Bernadalia, Tyrant Of The Scarlet Horde, Slayer Of Kings]: use the wasd keys

[byleth]: wasdfawwwwwwwsdasda

[Lady Bernadalia, Tyrant Of The Scarlet Horde, Slayer Of Kings]: click out of chat first

[byleth]: oh

[Lady Bernadalia, Tyrant Of The Scarlet Horde, Slayer Of Kings waves to you!]

[byleth]: is that you

[Lady Bernadalia, Tyrant Of The Scarlet Horde, Slayer Of Kings]: it is!

[byleth]: i like ur sword

[Lady Bernadalia, Tyrant Of The Scarlet Horde, Slayer Of Kings]: thanks!!!! It’s a rare raid drop!

[byleth]: what

[Lady Bernadalia, Tyrant Of The Scarlet Horde, Slayer Of Kings]: check this out!

[Lady Bernadalia, Tyrant Of The Scarlet Horde, Slayer Of Kings raises [Hellrender, Fifth Blade Of The Progenitor] to the sky! A cloud of holy light descends, showering the area in luminous grace! The strength of the gods wells up inside your chest!]

[You recover 1000000 Hit Points!]

[You are Cleansed!]

[You are Empowered!]

[byleth]: is that good

[Lady Bernadalia, Tyrant Of The Scarlet Horde, Slayer Of Kings]: yes! want to start questing?

[byleth]: sure

[Lady Bernadalia, Tyrant Of The Scarlet Horde, Slayer Of Kings]: great! you should have the weekly for demon slaying.

[byleth]: it is there

[byleth]: how do i do it

[Lady Bernadalia, Tyrant Of The Scarlet Horde, Slayer Of Kings]: click on my unicorn, i’ll fly us to a farming spot

[byleth]: i thought this was a sword game

[Lady Bernadalia, Tyrant Of The Scarlet Horde, Slayer Of Kings]: different kind of farming

You deal 10 Damage to the Cackling Demon!

Lady Bernadalia, Tyrant Of The Scarlet Horde, Slayer Of Kings deals 903,252 Damage to the Cackling Demon! The Cackling Demon is slain!

[byleth]: i want his sword

[byleth]: how do i pick up his sword

[Lady Bernadalia, Tyrant Of The Scarlet Horde, Slayer Of Kings]: you can’t, he didn’t drop it

[byleth]: but he was carrying it

[Lady Bernadalia, Tyrant Of The Scarlet Horde, Slayer Of Kings]: sometimes they do that it’s like a 2% chance iirc

[byleth]: oh

[byleth]: is there fishing in this game

[Lady Bernadalia, Tyrant Of The Scarlet Horde, Slayer Of Kings]: to my skybarge!

Thursday, 1:25 PM:

[Randolph]: Ionius wanted me to wish you good luck in your tournament today!

[Edelgard]: Oh!

[Edelgard]: Thank you! I didn’t know he knew!

[Randolph]: I told him last night, Caspar let me know.

[Edelgard]: Well thank you! Is he awake?

[Randolph]: I am afraid not, he is resting.

[Edelgard]: A shame. But thank you for carrying the message!

[Randolph]: My pleasure, Edelgard.

Thursday, 2:00 PM:

Deer Meme Zone

(You Are An Admin)

Seven Members

[Claude]: Y’ALL READY FOR TONIGHT?

[Lysithea]: wooooo

[Raphael]: DEER BOIZ DEER BOIZ

[Ignatz]: DEER BOIZ DEER BOIZ

[Lorenz]: honestly

[Claude]: DEER BOIZ DEER BOIZ

[Lorenz]: “Deer Boiz” is not funny anymore.

[Raphael]: DEER BOIZ DEER BOIZ

[Lorenz: And what about the women on our team?

[Hilda]: good point lorenz thank u

[Hilda]: DEER BOIZ DEER BOIZ DEER BOIZ

[Leonie]: deer boiz transcends gender roles

[Leonie]: DEER BOIZ DEER BOIZ DEER BOIZ

[Lorenz]: Infuriating.

[Claude]: DEER BOIZ AND GIRLZ! DEER BOIZ AND GIRLZ!

[Lorenz]: Well.

[Lorenz]: DEER BOIZ DEER BOIZ

[Raphael]: DEER BOIZ DEER BOIZ

[Ignatz]: DEER BOIZ DEER BOIZ

[Hilda]: DEER BOIZ DEER BOIZ

[Leonie]: WHAT TEAM?

[Claude]: DA

[Ignatz]: DEER

[Lysithea]: ...Boiz.

[Claude]: WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Thursday, 4:00 PM

Subj: [RE] A Question For You  
Sender: FbguvfYbjryy@mailmail.net

Hello, Seteth

Thank you for contacting me. This young woman sounds like exactly the sort of person I would be interested in speaking with.

I will be in town next week. Perhaps then we can make arrangements.

Thank You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to do something a little special before the next chapter, and since people really seemed to enjoy the "Text Logs" last time, I whipped up some new ones. I hope you like them! Feedback is still as welcome as it was last time, that is to say, Very.
> 
> Super Secret Author's Notes:  
\- Edelgard is considering making the Dorothea Smoothie Face into an emote for the group chat. Never let it be said she isn't thorough.  
\- Dedue wasn't very active in the Blue Lions chat because he's busy making snacks for the event. He does it every time, and everyone at Nabatea loves him for it.  
\- deer boiz  
\- Bernadetta is a Level 100 Chronomancer in LDO. She got the title "Tyrant Of The Scarlet Horde" for being one of the first 100 players to complete the newest dungeon. She got "Slayer Of Kings" for defeating "Nemesis, Hellspawned Heirarch" without a single death. She got "Lady" for referring a friend to the game. "Lady" is her newest one.  
\- Randolph texts Edelgard instead of Ladislava because she uses too many GIFs.


	16. Crossroads

Edelgard arrived at Nabatea at precisely one hour before the release event began. Not keen on the idea of driving after the Eagles’ customary post-prerelease bar visit, she’d taken a bus to the mall. Clearly, Seteth had been busy. A set of extra tables were scattered about the store’s upper floor, with a clearly recently unfolded banner bearing the “Crossroads” logo hanging from the ceiling in the center. The sight reminded her of her ultimate goal as she turned to the store’s register, locking eyes with the Blue Lions flag dangling defiantly above the till.

Soon it would fall.

“Good afternoon, Edelgard.”

Seteth had emerged from the basement, a cardboard box in his arms. The “Emblem Games” logo was emblazoned on the side, and Edelgard could see the familiar shapes of booster packs inside as Seteth’s steps bounced the lid.

“Same to you.”

“You’re here early.” he mused. “Though, I suppose no earlier than usual.”

Edelgard chuckled. “You know I like to be prepared.” As she sank into a chair, Edelgard reached into her bag and began to retrieve her battle equipment. Soon, her empty deck box, a fresh pack of card sleeves, a full printed PDF of the cards releasing in Crossroads, and a small set of granola bars were arranged neatly before Edelgard.

“No personal water bottle this time?” Seteth asked.

“It was a busy morning. I didn’t have time to go to the convenience store, so I’m making do.”

The bell dangling above Nabatea’s doors jingled as a tall man pushed his way inside, slowing his movement just slightly to avoid being too forceful on the glass. Deckbox in one hand, Dimitri used his other to wave to Edelgard and Seteth.

“Hello, everyone!”

“Dimitri? This is a surprise.” Seteth muttered. “You’re not typically here this early.”

Shrugging his shoulders, Dimitri chuckled as he slid into the chair opposite Edelgard. “What can I say? The chance at two Blue Lions victories in a row has me quite excited. And given that Edelgard always wins these release events, I figured if you can’t beat ‘em…”

“This is espionage.” she replied, only half-joking.

“I’ll allow it.” Seteth said, smirking. “I suppose we’ll have an exciting tournament to look forward to, then. I’ll leave you two to it.”

The next half-hour passed slowly, with Edelgard methodically running down her list of upcoming cards, trying to note down the possibilities for combos and synergies. In a sealed deck event, much of her strategy would have to be compiled after she opened her packs and got to see what cards would be in her and her partner’s pools. However, making the optimal choices at that time would be much easier if she already knew what each card in the set did, how it interacted with others, and how powerful she believed it to be.

“So, will we be seeing the Eagles’ new star at this event?”

Dimitri’s question roused Edelgard from her deep concentration on the frontline implications of “Jill, Daein’s Blackwing”. 

“She’ll be attending, yes.”

Dimitri smiled. “And because I would assume she’s partnered with one of your teammates, her points will count towards the Eagles’ totals?”

“Indeed they will.” Edelgard rifled through a stack of card sleeves, smacking the plastic against her red fingernails. “And considering her partner is me, I have high hopes that she’ll earn quite a few.”

Dimitri rolled his eyes, shaking a few stray strands of blonde hair out of his face. “Honestly, I can’t remember if you were always this confident, or if it’s something you picked up when we were teenagers.”

“Dimi! You aren’t telling me you’ve forgotten about the time I thoroughly trounced you at running the mile in 6th grade gym! We were twelve then.”

“Yes, and you pushed me at the end. So I guess that answers that.”

In spite of herself, Edelgard laughed. It had been a difficult time for her, recently returned from Agartha and utterly shaken, feeling as if the world had collapsed around her. She’d only managed to find comfort at school, and always strived for perfection. As if it was a way to prove to herself that she wasn’t broken or worthless. That everything that had happened wasn’t enough to kill her, not yet.

Of course, those weren’t the sort of thoughts that often occurred to a twelve year old. Perhaps she really had just wanted to show up handsome, popular, Dimitri Blaiddyd. Maybe a little of both.

“Oho, what’s this? Could my rivals already be plotting my downfall? What’ll it be, guys, scorpions in my deck box? Soda poured on my cards? Laxative in my water bottle?”

Edelgard hadn’t even noticed Claude come in, but he was difficult to miss now. The Golden Deer captain was leaned back, one arm shot forward in a feigned clutch at life as the other encircled his heart.

“Calm yourself, Mr. Riegan.” Seteth muttered, brushing his way past with another cardboard box.

“Don’t worry, Claude.” Dimitri said, that famous smile on his face. “I’m certain everyone here will be playing fair today. It’s all for fun, in the end. I’m just hoping everyone enjoys the experience.”

“God, Edelgard.” Claude whispered, louder than was credible. “He’s so pure. What a wholesome boy. How are we even expected to play against that? It’s like kicking a puppy.”

Edelgard chuckled. “A puppy that’s maintained the longest win streak at Nabatea this season. Beating you in each of your matches, if I recall correctly?

“You wound me, Edie.” Shrugging his shoulders, Claude sighed. “But you’re right. Today’s a two horse race, the Deer have had a rough one. Not our fault Lorenz was on that vacation for half of it, but the points are a cruel, unforgiving master, heartless and dark. Like Seteth.”

“Mr. Riegan, please.”

Edelgard, now firmly but begrudgingly distracted from her preparatory work, made small talk with her fellow captains until Leonie Pinelli entered the store at 5:30, excitedly approaching Claude and telling him cheerfully about the events of her workday at Myrddin Zoo. Over the next several minutes, a wave of players streamed into the shop, mingling and chatting. Edelgard could see Dorothea in the corner, angrily lecturing Sylvain about something she hadn’t seen or heard, but knew he deserved it. Felix and Ashe were playing a practice game against Caspar and Lorenz at a corner table, and judging by the expression on Felix’s face, losing.

Or perhaps not. Felix just tended to look that way.

At 5:48 PM, the doorbells of Nabatea jingled again, but a little louder than usual as someone clearly unused to doing things delicately burst into the store. Her hair windswept and her hoodie still scattered with the occasional bit of leaf, Byleth had arrived, smiling as she waved to Edelgard.

“Byleth!” Edelgard said, climbing out of her seat.

“Hello, El.” Edelgard felt her heart slam against her chest. “Sorry I was late. Muddy sidewalk.”

Edelgard groaned. “You ran here, didn’t you?”

“I did. I did do that.”

Seteth cleared his throat, but Edelgard was fairly sure she was the only one who noticed. In an opposite corner, Raphael and Caspar were having an extremely animated conversation about something or other, and it had drawn the attention of most of the room. Brow furrowed, Seteth tried again, but the discovery of a pair of tiny prop swords for some sort of fantasy board game utterly outshadowed him when Caspar and Raphael began to fight with them. Edelgard saw Seteth nod to someone out of the corner of her eye, and a diminutive figure blitzed across the store.

“Excuse me! Excuse me!” All eyes were now on Flayn, standing with her hands on her hips in front of the dueling customers. “I would like to ask you to please quiet down! Father would like to make an announcement!”

“Oh, gee, sorry Flayn!” Raphael looked sheepish as he put his weapon away. Caspar just looked sad.

“Now that I have your attention…” Seteth’s voice boomed through the room. “I would like to welcome you all to Nabatea’s “Crossroads” release event. The structure of today’s tournament will be 3-Round Team Sealed Deck! When I call you up, please come to the register and recieve the four packs I have allotted for you. You and your partner will then have one hour to build and prepare your decks before rounds begin. Each round will have a forty-five minute time limit, and for each round your team wins, you will receive an extra booster pack of Crossroads. Everyone will also receive one participation pack. Do you have any questions?”

Edelgard’s hand was up like a rocket.

“Edelgard?”

“Have there been any changes to the way points will be allocated in the Team League?”

Seteth sighed slightly. “No, not since last release, when you asked the same question, much like the one before that.”

A few giggles broke out, but Edelgard wasn’t bothered. She was simply ensuring she had the correct information.

“Keep in mind that in Team Play, if either Lord falls, your team loses the game. Now then, if there are no further questions…”

The doorbells jingled slowly as a thin man with long green hair pushed his way inside.

“Thank you for arriving eventually, Linhardt. Let us begin.”

Material things had never interested Edelgard much, but she had to admit she had a soft spot for opening packs of Fire Emblem cards. There was something nostalgic and viscerally entertaining about tearing a slit in the plastic wrappings and pulling the cardboard within out. The smell reminded her of time spent after birthdays at home, sitting on the couch with her father and excitedly tearing into the gifts.

Byleth didn’t seem to share the reverence. Across the table in Nabatea’s basement, she was haphazardly savaging the packaging, barely looking at the cards within before shunting them into her slowly growing pile.

Edelgard’s pulls were decent. Nothing spectacular, no cards worth any major money, but that wasn’t what she came to release events for. No, the real joy started now, as she divvied up the cards into carefully curated sections and began to evaluate her pool. 

Silencing her phone, pushing the day’s worries out of her mind, and doing all she could to ignore the chatter around the store, Edelgard entered her favorite state, where all that existed was her and the cards. Nothing but logic and strategy, nothing to fear or to hate, just raw data.

As usual, though, she had a weakness, and she couldn’t help but let Byleth into her sphere of attention as well. Edelgard found herself enjoying the way her friend’s typically stoic face would change slightly, her eyes widening as she leaned in to read a card and the corners of her mouth turning up when it seemed to be something she liked. As her eyes drifted downward, she noticed the sizable pile of cards in Byleth’s hands.

“Would you like me to sort those for you?” she asked. Byleth shook her head.

“I’m fine with them like this.”

Edelgard laughed. “I don’t know how you think you’ll be able to evaluate your pool like that.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“Why is that?”

Byleth looked at her like she’d just spoken a different language entirely. “Because I saw them when I opened them. I can remember.”

With another chuckle, Edelgard leaned forward. “You are a remarkably confusing woman, Byleth Eisner.”

She could have sworn she saw the edges of Byleth’s mouth twist up, just a tad.

When the dust had cleared, and Byleth had proven she really could remember her pool of cards so easily, they had managed to put together a pair of decks that managed to pass even Edelgard’s exacting standards.

Byleth’s was helmed by “Frey, Returned Paladin”, and focused on using a wide array of mounted units to try and overwhelm the opponents and end the game quickly.

Edelgard’s lord was “Gharnef, Omen of Despair”, and included a wide variety of long-ranged mages supported by a hefty front line of armored knights to protect them. 

The general strategy, as they had drawn it up together, was twofold. Edelgard would use the effects of her mages to set up an early set of buffs for Byleth’s cavaliers, who would attempt to swoop in and close out the match as soon as possible. If their opponents outlasted them, they would pivot, relying then on Edelgard’s armored units to withstand any assaults and deal a crushing blow.

It was a fairly simplistic strategy, at least in Edelgard’s mind. But release events and their randomized card pools rarely supported fancy combos or niche abilities. The winners would be those who had mastered the fundamentals of the game, and on that axis, Edelgard believed quite firmly that they stood a chance at the title.

The strategy discussions ended when Flayn bounded down the stairs, a set of freshly printed pages in her hands.

“I have your pairings for the first round right here!” she shouted, dropping them on a table. “Good fortune, everyone!”

Edelgard stood and walked through the now bustling Nabatea basement, her diminutive size made meaningless by the commanding aura that surrounded her as she strode to the table and peered at the sheet of round pairings.

Round 1

Byleth Eisner and Edelgard Hresvelg  
Vs  
Annette Dominic and Mercedes Martritz

Edelgard glanced across the table at the woman with long red hair holding another of the pairings sheets. She’d met Annette several times at the store, but never outside of it, so she didn’t know much about her, aside from her allegiance to the Blue Lions and her love of using magical units. Mercedes was an even more unfamiliar name.

She fought back the smallest of smirks as she saw Annette’s eyes widen when she reached her spot on the sheet. She looked up and met Edelgard’s eyes with a mix of fear and excitement.

“Oh my! Looks like we’re gonna be in the first round together, Edelgard! I’m, uh, sure you’ll stomp all over us, but-”

“Don’t talk like that.” Edelgard smiled, in a manner she hoped was reassuring. “Just play your hardest, and let your convictions speak for you.”

Annette didn’t exactly look reassured. “Oh, well, I suppose it would be lovely if Mercie and I could get a win on our first time playing as a team...okay! We’ll meet you at your table!”

The first game of round one was swift and decisive. Mercedes Martritz, as Annette introduced her, was a tall blonde woman who seemed to have a perpetual smile and a cheery enthusiasm about her every action, even when things were going disastrously.

“Uh oh!” she said, giggling to herself. “Annie, I think they’re about to win!”

“Yeah, Mercie.” she replied with a sigh, looking over the amassed forces of Byleth’s cavalier army positioned a few squares away from their team’s three remaining units. “It, uh, certainly does look that way.”

Before the next game, as both teams began to scoop up and reshuffle their decks, Annette tried making small talk.

“This is Mercie’s first event! I’ve been teaching her how to play after our classes.”

“Well, you’re doing quite well for a newcomer.” Edelgard replied. She wasn’t lying, Mercedes had shown a rather complete grasp of the game’s basic rules.

“Thank you so much!” Mercedes chirped. “After a long and difficult day at the hospital, it’s nice to get to go home and relax with a fun game!”

During the second match, Annette illustrated why she was a capable member of the Blue Lions. She’d managed to place her mages in advantageous positions around the battlefield, and with both her and Mercedes running Lords that had healing capabilities, the normally easily dispatched magical units were able to take more punishment than Byleth’s cavaliers could put out.

“We’ll never take them down like this.”

In reality, she’d whispered to Byleth, but in her mind’s eye she was shouting, her voice thrumming with the tones of her Flame Emperor mask over the vast battlefield. Byleth drew her sword.

“Then we work together. Focus them down with me.”

Edelgard abandoned her defensive efforts entirely, switching to a plan of full on aggression towards each and every enemy card on the battlefield. She tossed her cards onto the playing field near frantically, charging forward with her troops in a mad race to deplete the enemy’s forces before they could manage to put an end to theirs. Despite her being unfamiliar with the team format, it was quite clear that Byleth was a natural at teamwork. Edelgard rarely even had to put voice to her thoughts for her partner to pick up on them, and they quickly began to make headway, chewing through the opposing team over the next several turns.

Soon, they’d managed to whittle their foe’s units down to merely the final dregs in front of their connected fortress tiles.

“Mercie, this looks bad!” Annette quipped. “Your turn!”

Mercedes calmly peeled the top card from her deck, looked down, and began to cackle. Edelgard raised an eyebrow, beginning to wrack her mind for any cards in the Crossroads set that could produce that sort of a reaction.

“I’ll play Dark Meteor!” Mercedes chirped. Cheerfully, she slid the card into the middle of Byleth and Edelgard’s cavalry force. “All units within range are destroyed!”

“Oh my.” Edelgard muttered, but Annette gasped as she looked over the card’s text.

“M-Mercie! This says ALL units! That’s going to blow up most of our guys too!”

Mercedes giggled. “Oh, it’s okay! We’ll honor their deaths!”

Edelgard and Byleth still won the match, but Edelgard had to admit she’d found a newfound respect for Mercedes Martritz. Or perhaps it was fear.

Likely both.

Before the semifinal round began, Edelgard offered Byleth a granola bar from her bag.

“You look hungry, take this.”

Swiftly, the snack was snatched from Edelgard’s hand and the plastic wrapping was torn away, leaving Byleth to take a sizable chomp out of it.

“Fank you.” she said, mouth still halfway full of raisins. Edelgard laughed, wagging a finger at her partner.

“Talking with your mouth full? Didn’t Coach Eisner teach you anything?”

Byleth nodded. “He did. But it was usually just us. I don’t think he minded too much. He’s seen a lot worse.”

The conversation stopped when a deckbox was unceremoniously dropped onto the table in front of them. With his black hair tied into a ponytail, Felix Fraldarius cut an imposing figure as he slid into the chair, already scowling.

“Afternoon, Edelgard.” he mumbled.

“Hello, Felix.” she responded. “How were your pulls today?”

“Bad.”

“Oh, yeah, that’s the attitude to go into Round 2 with.” Sighing, Ingrid Galatea entered the chair next to him. She smiled at Byleth. “You’re Byleth, right? Don’t mind Felix, he’s just cranky. How are you enjoying your first release event at Nabatea?”

“Fun.” Byleth replied. Ingrid’s eyes seemed to look at Edelgard for a moment, and she lightly shrugged her shoulders, smiling.

“Well, that’s...good! Good to hear it.”

Felix had already retrieved his deck, and he was shuffling it swiftly, cards flying between his hands like it was second nature to him.

“I’m guessing you two are our Round Two opponents, then?” Edelgard asked. Ingrid nodded.

“Yep. Dimi won his first round too, so we’re hoping to make this a Blue Lions final!”

“Tch.” Felix scoffed. “Speak for yourself, I’m here for me, not Dimitri’s pet project.”

“Now, now, don’t fight, you two.” Edelgard grinned, shrugging her shoulders. “After all, the Black Eagles will be winning this tournament, so you needn’t concern yourselves with the details.”

The mood seemed to lighten as Ingrid laughed and Felix pointed across the table, a slight smirk on his face.

“Bring it on, birdie.”

As usual, Felix had built his deck almost entirely around Sword wielding characters. His lord was “Navarre, Scarlet Swordsman”, and his ranks were filled with units that struck hard and fast despite low durability. Ingrid’s deck was also typical of her, focusing mostly on flying units that had few restrictions on how far they could move in a turn.

Their gameplan was one of rapid aggressions, and it quickly became clear that Byleth’s frontline cavaliers were no match for both teams at once.

“Any ideas, El?” Byleth asked, her brow furrowed as Ingrid struck down yet another of her riders.

“Just one.” She leaned into Byleth’s ear and whispered until the other woman smiled, a mischievous tint in her eyes.

“Not sure what you two are planning…” Felix drawled. “Not that I think it’ll matter much now. I’ll use Navarre’s Killing Edge to attack Frey. Don’t suppose you’ve got any damage prevention in hand, Byleth?”

She looked down at her cards, humming in consternation. “Nope. Goes to five hit points.”

Ingrid gasped. “Felix! We’ve almost got her out!”

Quietly, Byleth reached over and slid her mounted Lord three spaces to the west. “Activate Frey’s Escape Route. And on my turn…” She slid him once more. “I’ll go another three spaces that way.”

On the battlefield, Edelgard watched from atop her fortress as Byleth fled into the western hills, the blood from her wounds dissipating in the wind as her horse galloped at full speed. Up above, the sky was blotted out by the winged figures of Ingrid’s riders, astride pegasus and wyvern as they gave chase. Their speeds were near even, but Byleth couldn’t run forever. The battlefield was surrounded by-

Edelgard’s mind took a moment to rationalize the edge of the playmat.

-a massive raging river. She made a desperate ploy.

“I’ll use Wendell’s Bolting Tome to deal long range magic damage to Navarre.”

Felix raised an eyebrow as he marked the damage on a scorecard. “Alright, that’s five to my Lord. I hope you don’t think you can just whittle him down before we win, Edelgard. That’s an amateur move.”

“Using Jagen to rush your opponent’s Lord isn’t much less amateur, Felix.” Edelgard chuckled. “And that’s how Byleth managed to crush me last time.”

“Frey moves another three spaces west.” said Byleth, smiling slightly. “And I end my turn.”

The chase continued for the next several turns, with Ingrid’s units attempting to box Byleth’s Lord in. Edelgard continued to take chunks out of Navarre five damage at a time, but by the time Fray was cornered, the Scarlet Swordsman still had twenty-five hit points remaining.

“Your turn, Edelgard.” Ingrid motioned towards her with her palm. “Let’s see if you have another miracle up your sleeves.”

“Gladly.”

Edelgard donned the Emperor’s mask. 

“First I’ll use Wendell’s special skill, Pontifex’s Teachings, to increase Gharnef’s Magic score by ten at the cost of Wendell’s turn. Next, I’ll use Izuka’s special ability, Reckless Experiment, to increase the range of all allied specials by three squares after I sacrifice an allied unit.” She plucked a card from the table. “Wendell is sacrificed. Next, I’ll activate Gharnef’s special movement, “Warp Through Darkness”, to allow him to teleport up to six squares by sacrificing an ally.” Another card was removed. “Izuka is now sacrificed. Thanks to Reckless Experiment’s buff, Gharnef moves up to nine squares, so I’ll place him two squares from Navarre.”

Felix’s eyes widened. “Oh, you have got to be f-”

“Gharnef attacks Navarre for twenty-five points of damage, barring any prevention effects.”

She looked Felix directly in the eyes and watched the shock set in.

“Well. Holy shit. That’s game.”

The second game of the round wasn’t nearly as close, with Ingrid finding herself unable to draw her early aggressive cards and Felix left open to Byleth and Edelgard’s combined assaults. An opponent’s bad luck wasn’t how Edelgard preferred to win games of Fire Emblem, but today she wasn’t complaining.

“If you lose to Dimitri in the finals, I’ll be pissed.” Felix quipped as he packed up his deck. “But I have to admit, you two are pretty good at this. So I doubt that will be a concern. Your new friend’s got skills at this.”

Edelgard smiled at Byleth’s empty seat, still waiting for her partner to return from reporting their victory to Seteth. Typically she loved savoring that triumphant march herself, but she had decided it was only proper to share the spoils with her teammate. “Indeed she does. So, you think Dimitri will be our final opponent?”

Shrugging her shoulders, Ingrid leaned back in her chair. “I mean, probably. It’s almost always you and him in the final round. Sometimes Claude.”

“Well then, I suppose Byleth and I will simply have to show Dimitri and Dedue what the Black Eagles can do.”

“Dedue?” Felix cocked an eyebrow. “What would Dedue have to...oh. You haven’t heard.”

Ingrid’s face erupted into a lasivicious grin. “She hasn’t heard…”

“What?” Edelgard leaned forward, confusion writ on her face. “What do you mean I “haven’t heard”? Is Dedue alright?”

“Dedue is fine!” 

Edelgard had seen Felix Fraldarius smile less than ten times in her decade of knowing the man. This, however, was evidently a very special day. “He’s just not Dimitri’s partner today.”

“Attention! May I have your attention?” Seteth was tromping down the stairs, a stack of papers in hand. “It seems that a certain two teams have already completed their first two rounds, and are the only teams to remain undefeated. Thus, we already have our finals pairing!” He cleared his throat, and Edelgard couldn’t fight the feeling of dread that crept down the back of her neck.

“Today’s finalists will be the Black Eagles team of Edelgard Hresvelg and Byleth Eisner, against the Blue Lions team of Dimitri Blaiddyd and his teammate...Claude Riegan!”

Edelgard was fuming as she slid into their assigned table, scowling across at the all-too-amused smirks of her rivals.

“This is collusion.” she hissed.

Claude burst into laughter, Dimitri barely managing to contain his own.

“Explain yourselves.”

Claude spread his hands, shrugging slightly. “What can I say? It’s a tactical move! The team that comes in last during a season gets a headstart bonus in the next one. We were too far behind to take the trophy this time, so when I saw the chance to help my old buddy Dimitri get a leg up, and take some points away from my team so we don’t creep past you guys, well…” He held up an open palm, grinning as Dimitri gave him a high-five. “I made the smart play.”

“Isn’t that what you always advise, Edelgard?” Dimitri had a smug smile on his face as he shuffled his deck, drawing a few giggles from the small crowd that was beginning to form around the table. “You were just telling me the other day that I needed to consider more efficiency in my play strategy.”

Edelgard chuckled, putting her chin in her hands as she leaned forward. “Oh, Dimitri, I know exactly what this is about. This has nothing to do with the points, or the contest, or Claude’s little plan. You’re still just angry...about your juice box.”

At her earth-shattering revelation, Dimitri leaned back in his seat, eyebrow raised. Claude’s eyes darted between his rival team captains, the wheels turning in his head. “Wait, hold on. Clearly I’ve missed something here.”

“Edelgard stole my juice box when we were 11.”

“Dimitri left his juice box unattended and unlabeled when we were 11.”

As they argued about the particulars of this incident, Byleth returned to the table, a freshly purchased soda in one hand and a freshly shuffled deck in the other. 

“If I may interrupt…” Seteth cut in. “It seems you are all prepared. As such, I would like to declare this Crossroads Release Event Championship Match officially begun!”

Putting aside any and all thoughts of juice boxes, enemy alliances, lesson plans, Agartha Chemical, and the errant ideas that crept into her headspace, Edelgard began to focus. She was once again upon the battlefield, a vast and open field where the sun beat down and the grass danced gently in the wind.

Across the plain was Dimitri, clad in heavy armor and astride a war horse wearing matching silver plate.

“I’ll be using “Bertram, Bloodthirsty Paladin”.”

At Dimitri’s side, another steed rubbed its hooves in the dirt. It was less heavily armored, clearly more built for speed and agility, and Claude struck a pose atop its back.

“My Lord’s “Astrid, Keen-Eyed Noble”. Ready to ride ‘em down, Dimi?”

Edelgard pursed her lips. “Seems they’ve got a Cavalry strategy like yours, Byleth. We’ll have the best odds if we can outlast their initial charge and then get aggressive once they’ve wasted their abilities.”

“Uh huh.” Byleth was nodding her head. “I’ll position my defensive units in front of your mages.” Together they set up their side of the battlefield, blocking off any straight shots to their fortresses with forest tiles to slow the enemy’s cavalry charge down. Dimitri and Claude placed their terrain far off to the sides of the map, clearly signalling their attempt to play as the aggressors.

“Looks like things are set up.” Claude murmured, scanning both sides of the battlefield. The air was thick with anticipation now, both from the players and their spectators, eager to see how a battle featuring all three of Nabatea’s finest players would turn out. “Wanna roll for first?”

As Claude fished in his bag for a die, Edelgard breathed in deeply. This was it, this was what she was fighting for. The rush of competition, sitting on the precipice of a challenge that would push her skills to their limits. She’d been a little annoyed at Dimitri and Claude’s teaming up to try and stop her, but she couldn’t lie, it was exhilarating. The chance to face both of her rivals at once with Byleth by her side wasn’t something she could ever pass up.

The plastic six-sided die wobbled on the table as it landed. “That’s a five.” Dimitri said. “Your turn.”

Byleth reached for the die and began to shake it in her hands, giving Edelgard a smile out of a sideways glance.

Galvanised by the gesture, Edelgard turned back to face the battlefield, in her mind’s eye already donning the Flame Emperor’s garb. 

“Edelgard!”

She slipped on the helm.

“Edelgard!”

She gripped the axe in her hands.

“EDELGARD!”

She was powerful.

“EDELGARD!”

A frantic shout pulled her from her daydream. All eyes in Nabatea were on the formally dressed woman who had just rushed into the store, her brown hair rumpled and her glasses askew. Her breathing was heavy, and it was clear that she’d been running, despite her heels.

Edelgard had never before seen Ladislava this way, and her heart sank in her chest.

The battlefield fell away, inspiring vistas, magical armaments, and majestic heroes revealed for exactly what they truly were: cardboard facsimiles and naiive childish fantasy.

Ladislava gulped, her eyes brimming with tears. “You need to come with me.”

The Emperor’s armor melted away, and cruel, unforgiving reality coiled around her bare flesh and whispered its terrible truth.

“It’s your father.”

She was powerless.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Super Secret Author's Notes: 
> 
> \- Felix had a much better pool of lance users but what is he, a COWARD???  
\- Sylvain and Dorothea are doing very well because when Sylvain actually focuses he's quite good. The only struggle is not strangling him between rounds.  
\- Dedue made pigs in a blanket. He's partnered with Ashe. Ashe has eaten eight pigs in a blanket.
> 
> Thank you all very much for reading! Feedback is welcome as always, I read every single comment I receive! I greatly appreciate your words, they make doing this feel so worthwhile. Oh, by the way, this chapter is coming out on Theros: Beyond Death Prerelease Weekend! If you happen to play Magic: The Gathering, or want to get into Magic and know the basic rules, I'd highly recommend going out to a local game store and playing in a prerelease. It's incredibly fun and it's one of the things I really wanted to put in this story! I'll personally be going tomorrow.
> 
> anyway that's all i wanted to address nothing else of significance happened in this chapter, right?
> 
> right?
> 
> bye


	17. El

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: This chapter is somewhat heavier in subject matter than is typical for this story. I don't want you to go in in the wrong headspace, so I'm offering this warning up front.

The wind howled outside as the Hresvelg’s family car made its way down the long stretch of empty highway. Ionius, his hair coiffed and his suit pressed, already prepared for his upcoming board meeting, was sitting rigid in the driver’s seat. Edelgard, aged twelve, was pressed against the passenger’s side window, fuming.

“They hurt me.”

“Stop saying that, Edelgard.”

It wasn’t the first time they’d had this discussion.

“It’s true.”

“They were trying to help you.”

“Not always!”

“Volkhard told me that-”

“Volkhard is a lying bastard.”

“Edelgard!”

Ionius shot her a look, frustration pulling his face taut. “Do not use that language!”

With a scoff, Edelgard turned to face her father, watching as he turned back to the road, his attention still clearly mostly on his daughter.

“Do you just not care about me, father?”

“That’s ridiculous. Take it back.”

“No.”

“Edelgard…”

“It’s true, isn’t it? You don’t care about me! You don’t give a damn what happened, do you? You jus-”

Her accusations came to a halt as Ionius slowed the car to a halt, pulling over on the side of the road.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

Unbuckling his seat belt, Ionius Hresvelg turned to face his daughter. It was only then that she noticed the tears in the corners of his eyes.

“Edelgard, I care about you. I care more about you than anything else in the world, and I have since the day you were born. You mean the world to me, and you meant the world to your mother.” He sucked in a rasping breath. “When you got sick...I thought of Patricia, how I lost her, and how I swore to her that I would keep you safe. I couldn’t go through that. Not again.”

He leaned forward, running a hand through Edelgard’s hair. “I know it was hard. All the tests and the procedures...that should never be anything any little girl has to go through. But you made it, Edelgard. You’re here, and I am grateful for that every single day.”

Edelgard felt her father’s arms wrap around her, pulling her tight to his chest. 

“I love you, El.”

A much older Edelgard found herself once more leaning against the passenger-side window of an Adrestia Group car, her eyes glued to the window for the moment she’d spot a familiar azure sign.

Ladislava was in the driver’s seat, her foot nearly pinning the gas pedal to the floor as she flirted with the edge of the speed limit, speaking as quickly as she could while still being understandable.

“Mr. Hresvelg went in for a routine minor surgical procedure this morning, everything went as planned. A few minutes after waking, Randolph noticed that he was shakier than usual, and finding it more difficult to breathe. Mr. Hresvelg assured him that he was completely fine, simply fatigued from the anesthetics. He took his regular afternoon nap, and Randolph and I went on a brief meal break. When we returned, we found Mr. Hresvelg completely unresponsive. We couldn’t wake him, and when we called a nurse, she found that…”

Ladislava’s breath hitched. Edelgard’s heart dropped.

“He had entered a state of cardiac arrest. We rushed him to Emergency Care, and they’re doing all they can to resuscitate him. But they...they aren’t sure if he’ll...make it.”

Ladislava continued to speak, talking about how Randolph had texted her and tried to call, but her phone was unresponsive, but Edelgard didn’t hear a word. Her head was spinning and her stomach twisted in her gut, the world outside of the car suddenly a blur of nearly unrecognizable shapes and colors. She tried to push tears from her eyes, a hollowness growing in her as she found none would come.

“Edelgard?” 

She turned to Ladislava, noting the pained expression on her so typically composed face.

“Are you hearing me alright, Edelgard?”

She swallowed. “I am.”

Ladislava nodded, her eyes still fixed directly on the road. As the din of the city outside rose to fill the silence, Edelgard caught the last moments of a whisper escaping her lips.

“I will be here for you.”

Typically, Edelgard had difficulty entering Holy Kingdom Hospital. A stutter would enter her step as she approached the chrome gates, memories of Agartha Chem bubbling to the surface. The sterile air, muffled sounds, and overbearing lights had always stifled her, but today none of that felt like a concern. She burst through the door halfway at a run, Ladislava beside her as they rushed the information desk.

“Hresvelg?” Ladislava huffed, less a question and more a statement.

The clerk behind the desk nodded and opened the gates further into the hospital. Edelgard tried to ignore the way he looked at her with such dismay.

They knew they had arrived at Ionius’ room when Edelgard saw Randolph sitting outside, his head resting on a balled fist. As Ladislava and Edelgard approached, he rose to his feet, wiping his hands on the sides of his beige suit and walking forward to meet them.

“Edelgard, I’m sorry, I tried to call you, but-”

“My phone was off. It’s alright, Randolph.”

The tall man sighed, running a hand through his hair.

“Has there been any news?” Ladislava asked.

“Not yet.” Randolph groaned, kicking lightly at the tile below. “We’re still in the dark, I’m afraid. Edelgard, I’m so sorry this is happening.”

“It isn’t your fault. You have no need to apologize.” Edelgard sunk into one of the hard plastic chairs. “I suppose all we can do now is wait.”

The next several minutes passed by agonizingly slowly. The hallway outside the Holy Kingdom operating room was horrific in its uniformity. A consistent pattern of blue and white checkered tiling stretched in perfect symmetry across the floor, with each and every door bearing the same clear light above it. Nearly all of them glowed a soft blue, except for the one Edelgard sat outside. This light pulsed red.

The whole affair felt like a nightmare, too sudden, too alien to be real. One moment she had been celebrating at Nabatea, feeling on top of the world, about to challenge her greatest Fire Emblem rivals to an exciting match at the side of the woman she’d fallen in love with. Now she was sitting beneath blinding fluorescents in an unfamiliar hall, waiting with bated breath to see if she would ever get to speak to her father again.

Ladislava and Randolph flanked her, each in a chair of their own. Ladislava silently tapped at her phone while Randoph sat with his head in his hands, his thumbs massaging at his temples. They had both known her father for years now, and she knew they had to be suffering as well, but Edelgard honestly felt as if they were barely there. In her mind’s eye, despite the light traffic that sometimes walked down the hall or the light breathing from either side of her, Edelgard felt utterly and entirely alone.

At some point, though Edelgard could not know when, a man emerged from the door, a mint green medical mask over his face. All three of Ionius’ visitors leapt to their feet as he unclipped the clasps on his mask, the air thick with the anticipation of his words.

For Edelgard, it was clear the moment she saw the man’s expression.

“Edelgard, wait!”

Ladislava called after her, but she was past the doctor and through the door before she even knew she’d begun moving. Every step shook her world, and the emergency room seemed to shift with every passing moment. There was a red chair in the corner, or maybe a black one, two doctors, perhaps three, a droning sound pounding in her ears that was either terribly high or incredibly low, and a cot in the back of the room where a man lay still.

Edelgard had known that this day was coming, someday. She had simply never expected that it would be so soon.

And she had always thought she’d be able to say goodbye.

“I’m sorry.” The doctor’s voice was familiar, likely one of those who had helped care for her father for years, but it felt foreign as he walked through the door. “We did all that we could. It was a sudden complication, nothing that came up in any of his reports.” 

Edelgard clutched her father’s limp hand in her own, swallowing bile as it sunk in that he would never close his fingers around hers again. Behind her, Ladislava and Randolph approached, each of them stopping to look over the fallen Ionius Hresvelg.

“Someone...someone will need to contact headquarters.” Ladislava whispered. “I will excuse myself to do so.” Heels clacked against the floor as she took her leave. She had always been the type to try and conceal her emotions, and Edelgard couldn’t fault her for it right now. Randolph was less subtle, tears starting to drip from his cheeks onto the white sheets of Ionius’ bed.

“He was fighting so hard. This is just…” Randolph swore under his breath. “I can’t believe he’s gone.”

Edelgard stayed silent, her fingers tracing the lines on her father’s palm. 

“Traditionally, we give the family some alone time with the deceased first.” said the doctor. “Though that is, of course, your decision.” Randolph cleared his throat, lightly tapping Edelgard’s shoulder.

“I’m going to go see if Ladi needs any help. I’m...I’m really sorry, Edelgard. Call if you need anything.”

As Randolph departed, the doctor followed, and soon Edelgard was alone, surrounded by the humming of machines and staring down at the body of her father.

Again, she tried to force the tears to come, her eyes on the damp bit of blanket Randolph had left behind. It felt wrong, somehow morally disgusting, not to be crying. Her father was dead, and she couldn’t even shed a tear. 

What was wrong with her?

With her focus so tight on the corpse before her, Edelgard barely registered the sound of the door opening mere minutes after Randolph’s departure. She didn’t notice the footsteps on the floor, nor the sigh from the visitor, not aware of them until a hand lightly cupped her shoulder.

“I am so, so very sorry.”

Edelgard jerked away, scowling as she looked up into the mournful face of Volkhard Arundel.

“Ionius was a good man, and I’m sure, a good father. I cannot imagine what you must be going through, Edelgard, but I must assure you that it is alright to cry.” He smiled. “I would not dream of judging you.”

Hatred churned in Edelgard’s gut, mixing with the misery and threatening to bubble over, but now was not the time to act irrationally.

“Thank you.” she replied listlessly.

“Shall we observe a moment of silence for Ionius?” Without waiting for an answer, Arundel clasped his hands together and bowed his head, eyes closed as he leaned over the deathbed. Edelgard now noticed the other figure in the room, standing to the side of the door. It was the man from the opera, Myson, his expression as unreadable as it had been that night. As he noticed her looking at him, he simply nodded.

“Please don’t mind my assistant. I’m afraid he’s rather shy.” Volkhard beckoned towards a pair of chairs at the side of the bed. “Please sit, Edelgard. We must discuss what happens next.”

The Emperor raged inside her, screaming at Edelgard to rebel, to yell, to stomp the ground and defy the man who had held her leash for so long. But she was tired, too tired to fight, and she nearly fell into the metal chair, her hands wrapped tightly around the armrests. Volkhard settled next to her, smoothing out his suit as he sat. With a light sigh, he shook his head.

“It’s hard to believe that this could happen so soon. Your father knew that his health was declining, but he had faith that his doctors could make progress before things became...dire. And we never expected such a sudden decline.” Volkhard sucked air in through his teeth. “But I suppose someone in my profession should not be surprised. Accidents, however tragic, are simply a part of life. Thankfully, your father knew that as well. It is fortunate that he made preparations.”

“Preparations?” Edelgard’s eyes narrowed, and her heart beat faster against her chest. “What do you mean?”

Turning his body to face her, Volkhard smiled, placing his hands on Edelgard’s shoulders and lightly squeezing. She resisted the urge to vomit.

“Edelgard, your father cared more for you than anything else in this world. More than me, more than Adrestia, more than himself. He wanted you to have an ally by your side, even when fate took him too soon, just as it did Patricia. He asked me to watch over you, always. And I will be glad to see his will done.”

Every nerve in Edelgard’s body screamed, the Emperor pounding at the seams of her heart, begging her to fight back, to shout, to do anything at all, but she was frozen to the spot. Fear ran rampant through her mind as the phantom sensation of a rat’s claws scurried up her chest. Volkhard tilted his head, smiling.

“I’ll always be here for you, El.”

“Don’t.”

The dam inside of her broke.

“Never, ever, ever.”

Every emotion she had been holding back, every feeling and impulse restrained by social graces and fear, began to burst to the surface.

“Don’t you ever, ever, fucking call me El ever again!”

She burst to her feet, grabbing Volkhard's arms and thrusting them back towards him, watching as the older man gripped his chair frantically to avoid falling to the floor. From the corner of her eye, she could see Myson step away from the door, starting to move towards them.

“Stay back!” Volkhard called, jerking his head around to glare at his subordinate. When he turned to her again, his face was full of pity. “Edelgard, I know this is a difficult time for you, but-”

“Shut up!” Edelgard glared down at the man who had haunted her dreams and waking hours alike for so long, and let the disgust she had held back loose. “You wretched, pathetic, disgusting, lying, bastard! You think you can use that name? You think you can say what he said, with him right there?” She shot a finger out, pointing at the limp form of Ionius. Volkhard rose to his feet.

“Edelgard, I know it’s hard. But now is not the time for this. You sound hysterical!”

A scowl formed on Edelgard’s face. “No more, Arundel. I won’t allow you to manipulate me ever again.”

“Manipulate you?” Volkhard sneered, rising to his full height, towering over Edelgard now. “I saved you, Edelgard. Without Agartha, you would-”

“You used me. Just like you used my father.” Adrenaline surging through her, Edelgard began to walk towards the door. “But no more, Volkhard. Never again. I’m going to tell the world what you’ve done, and they’ll all see you for the monster that you are.”

She glared at Myson, daring him to try and stop her. The bulky bodyguard looked to his employer for guidance, still hovering at the side of the room’s entrance.

“Edelgard, calm down! This is ridiculous! What would your father think?”

A recent memory resonated in Edelgard’s consciousness.

_“You know yourself best. Always make sure you put that brain of yours to good use.” Ionius shook his head. “Don’t waste all of it thinking about your weak old man.”_

She reached for the doorknob and wrenched it open, stepping out into the blinding light of the hall.

“Go to hell, Volkhard Arundel.”

As Edelgard stormed from the emergency room, her shoulders held high and sheer righteous anger propelling her steps, she was surprised to see who waited at the end of the hall.

“Edelgard!” 

Claude had called out to her, waving a hand in greeting. At his side was Dimitri, who gave her a nod as she approached. Both of them looked solemn, but their expressions turned from mournful to confused as she stomped towards them, the scowl still plastered to her face.

“We need to go. Now.” she hissed.

Dimitri was taken aback. “Edelgard, what’s going on?”

“We need to go.”

She saw Claude turn to Dimitri and shrug. “Well, you heard her. Let’s get back to the car.”

As the trio began to exit, a clear voice boomed from the other end of the hall.

“I hope you know that if you walk out that door, you will be losing much.” Volkhard stood in the center of the hallway, arms folded across his crimson tie. “You have a choice to make, Edelgard, and it would be...unwise, if you failed to think it through.”

Once, Edelgard would have turned around and slunk back, fear controlling her steps as the bonds around her were cinched ever tighter. Edelgard would have allowed him to take control, forcing herself to be content with stewing on the sidelines, dreaming of the day she could finally stand up to Agartha and Arundel.

But she wasn’t simply Edelgard any longer.

She exited the hallway without another word.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Super Secret Author Notes:
> 
> \- Ladislava won't cry in front of people, but she will do it alone.
> 
> A shorter chapter than usual this time, because I have some news that's very exciting for me, personally, though perhaps a bit of a bummer for the fic.
> 
> I accepted a new full-time job this week, and I start Monday! This has been a very long road for me due to personal complications, and things have been difficult for a long time. I'm excited to begin taking steps to carve out my own independence and repay those who helped me while I was in need.
> 
> That said, I am about to have about forty hours a week less of free time, and with the hectic nature of first weeks of work, I was unsure if I'd be able to produce another full length chapter very quickly. Given that the last chapter ended on a cliffhanger and I didn't want to leave everyone waiting, I decided to split this chapter into two and add more to each. 
> 
> Thank you very much for reading, as always! Feedback is incredibly welcome and appreciated. I hope you have a lovely day!


	18. Lost and Found

For the second time that day, Edelgard found herself a passenger in someone else’s vehicle, face pressed against the window as Dimitri’s limousine hummed its way down the downtown streets. She was alone in the second row, with Claude occupying the passenger’s seat. He was glued to his phone, brow furrowed in a rare display of consternation for the breezy and cocksure man. Dimitri was in the driver’s seat, his hands clasped around the wheel. She’d never seen him drive the limo before, typically that was the job of Ashe, his chauffeur. But Ashe was competing at the tournament, and Edelgard knew Dimitri would likely not want to pull him away.

Things had been different, then. Even though it was only slightly over an hour ago that she had been at Nabatea, it felt like a different lifetime entirely. She had been scurrying in the shadows beyond Arundel’s sight, seeking joy in the darkest corners before returning to her appointed role. It was a complex life, and not one she’d ever call “good”, but there were moments of happiness. Now things were different. The shadows had faded, and she would hide no longer. She was brimstone, anger, fire and fury, and she would see Agartha Chemical burn to cinders, praying she wasn’t extinguished first.

“Lysithea knows.” 

Claude was the first to break the silence. Ever since she had stormed from Holy Kingdom’s doors, Edelgard hadn’t spoken a word, even when Dimitri had continued to bombard her with questions. It felt wrong to answer, as if this was a pain that needed to be kindled within, reflected on before spreading. Or perhaps she was simply too angry, her spite lashing out at someone who’d done nothing wrong. Either way, it had settled into a silent ride.

“Good.”

The word dripped from Edelgard’s lips like molasses, slow and sticky and cumbersome. The beginnings of nausea curdled in her gut.

Claude sighed, leaning his head back against the leather seat. “She says she’s sorry, but she’s with you. Whatever you need. Same here, of course.”

Edelgard nodded. The support was valuable, something she’d certainly never expected before, but in the moment it was hard to appreciate. Not when the wounds were so raw and her blood felt like it was pumping a mile a minute.

“I’m not going to let him hurt anyone else.” Edelgard muttered. She felt the tips of her nails digging into her palms. “We stop this, now.”

“I understand how you feel, but we’ve gotta be careful about our next move.” Claude’s voice was terse, his lips pulled into a thin frown. “One wrong step and from what I’ve heard about Arundel, he’ll pounce.”

“Believe me, Claude, I am well aware.”

The vehicle, she noticed, was starting to slow down. The fog cleared from her head as the world outside of the limousine’s window came into view once more, revealing a long stretch of highway on the outside of town. The gravel below the limousine rumbled as the vehicle pulled to a stop on the road’s shoulder, out of the way of any passing traffic.

“Dimitri? What’s up?” Claude asked.

His face calm, Dimitri pulled the shift down, setting the car in park.

“Dimitri?” Edelgard whispered, her voice still hoarse from her outburst at Arundel.

As he turned, Dimitri sighed. Bits of shaggy blonde hair fell in front of his eyes. “I need someone to tell me what in the world is going on.”

“It’s complicated.” Edelgard retorted. Dimitri sighed once more.

“I’ve got time for the answer, Edelgard.”

“I’m not giving it.”

“Dimi, pal, this isn’t a great time…” Claude muttered, but Dimitri scowled.

“Fine, how about the two of you put yourself in my shoes for a moment. I was playing cards with my friends when a woman I’ve never met burst through the door and pulled my oldest friend out the door, screaming about her father. Suddenly, Claude tries to scurry off after her, and I have to drive us both to the hospital, where I learn that Ionius Hresvelg is dead. But his daughter isn’t upset, she’s furious, and when she storms out of the hospital, I see a man I’ve seen around my school since we were children giving her some kind of ominous threat. Now neither of my friends will tell me what in the FUCK is happening, and they BOTH seem to know!”

Dimitri slammed a fist on the side of the chair, his teeth gritted with rage. “Tell me why I shouldn’t be allowed to know, Edelgard! How about you, Claude? All I’m trying to do is help you, and I’m being told to mind my own business like a child!”

The rage still simmering in Edelgard’s stomach lashed out. “Perhaps we wouldn’t treat you like a child if you didn’t have outbursts like one!”

There was a tearing sound as Dimitri clenched his fingers against the seat, much of the upholstery no match for the towering man. He seethed, air blowing between his teeth, but did not respond, leaving the air thick with anticipation and emotion.

“Enough of that, both of you.” Claude had one hand on the back of his head, mussing his hair as he groaned. “You both make good points, but you’ll never reach them if you rip eachother’s heads off over it. Edelgard, I think…” 

He sighed, a wince forming on his face. 

“I think you should tell Dimitri what’s up. It’s up to you, of course. But…”

“But I’ve known you for over a decade, El.”

Edelgard’s eyes went wide at the sound of the nickname. She swiveled around to meet Dimitri’s gaze, trying to push the emotion out of her face.

“What did you just call me?”

“Sorry, do you not like it?” The anger that had gripped Dimitri moments before was beginning to subside, his muscles relaxing as he sank into his seat. “It’s what you asked me to call you when we first met, back in grade school.”

Claude looked between his rivals, his eyes narrowed. “The two of you have known each other that long? Starting to feel a little left out here, gang.”

Claude wasn’t the only one left incredulous. Slowly Edelgard began to realize that a memory existed, somewhere deep down, of a happier time. She’d let the time before Agartha pass from her memory, determined to focus on what truly mattered, but in the depths of her mind, Edelgard could recall images. 

A blonde boy, a swingset, a playground that smelled like fresh wood chips.

“You were the cheeriest kid at our school, Edelgard.” Dimitri’s voice was soft, but his grip remained firm on the side of his chair. “Something happened, when we were young. I never wanted to pry, but now…”

Dimitri sighed.

“What happened to you, Edelgard?”

Finally, she told him.

As the limousine finally reached the street leading to Edelgard’s apartment building, the atmosphere inside had lifted considerably. Dimitri was still partially hunched over the steering wheel, his grip tight and a scowl on his face, but his anger was directed in a very different direction.

“Honestly, I’ve never liked Arundel, but this…” He blew air from his mouth, shaking his head with indignation. “Sickening bastard.”

“I apologize if this is still a raw subject, but…” Claude gave Edelgard a look that mixed his usual inquisitiveness with a healthy dose of sympathy. “Do you think he had anything to do with your dad’s passing?”

“I wouldn’t put it past him. Volkhard is nothing if not an opportunist, and if my father stopped being useful, or learned something he shouldn’t have…” Edelgard trailed off, pushing another sudden bout of sadness back into her gut. “I’m unsure.”

“It’s worth an investigation, at least.” Dimitri shook his head. “The hospital’s chief of staff and I don’t always see eye to eye, but I doubt even Cornelia can resist an official request from the Blaiddyd heir. I’ll inquire into any recent changes in medicine or diet.”

“Thank you, Dimitri.”

“I only wish I could have done more.”

The familiar speed bump outside of her apartment’s parking lot jostled Edelgard’s seat, and she looked out the window once more, glad beyond all else to have made it home.

The moon was beginning to rise in the crisp evening sky, shining above the thin wispy clouds that accompanied it. It was not at all the kind of night that Edelgard associated with death. She’d always pictured her mother’s funeral being in the rain, though the memories were too muddled to recall. Reality, it seemed, had a way of lacking the drama of her favorite stories. Somehow that only made things more difficult. As Edelgard stepped out of the backseat, her legs moaning from the way she’d sat sitting on them, it was a single absence in the mundane landscape that suddenly gave her pause.

“I could have sworn this is where I parked this morning.” She pointed to an empty space in the lot.

Dimitri walked out next to her, an eyebrow cocked in confusion. “Hmm. Are you sure?”

From behind, she heard Claude swear under his breath. “We need to get inside.”

The Golden Deer captain took off into the building, leaving a confused Dimitri and Edelgard to jog in his wake. As she followed in his footsteps, Edelgard’s brain reached from its frazzled state to pull two and two together.

That was absolutely where she had parked this morning.

Suddenly, she was sprinting. Through the lobby, into the stairwell, up one set of steps, then another, the burning sensation in her legs growing ever stronger before sheer panic numbed it entirely.

In front of her room, there was a pile of junk. Clothes with holes that Edelgard had removed from her wardrobe long ago, sets of discarded granola bar wrappers that had dwelled beneath her bed, empty cardboard boxes with worn labels that had once housed stray Fire Emblem cards, and a rickety birdcage, with a perturbed-looking African Grey parrot huddled inside. Next to it all was a young woman with bone-white hair, her head buried in her hands as she sat in a heap on the floor. 

On the door to Edelgard’s apartment, a yellow sign was affixed with a nail.

“EVICTED, KEEP OUT”

Lysithea scrambled to her feet and ran to meet Edelgard with a tear-stained face.

“I’m sorry.” she whispered. “I was too late to stop them.”

Unable to respond, Edelgard sidestepped the shorter woman and walked to her door, fishing the keys from her pocket and placing them in the lock. She turned them, but there was no motion inside, no click of satisfaction, just an unmoving shaft of cold metal.

“Don’t tell me…” Dimitri’s voice was little louder than a whisper. Lysithea began to sob, her voice hitching as she spoke.

“When I got home, I saw Edelgard’s car pulling out of the lot, so I went to go check up on her, since Dorothea said she wasn’t answering her phone. But when I got there, there were these...men in her apartment. They were in black suits and they were taking away some of the furniture, one of them working on the lock. I tried to call them out on it and tell the staff, but…” Lysithea balled up a fist and slammed it into the wall. “They said it’s above board. That the owner called and says they’re legally repossessing the apartment and everything inside.”

Dimitri snarled. “Claude, can they do that?”

With a sigh, Claude put his hands behind his head. “Legally? Probably not. But the letter of the law only matters as far as the person reading it out can convince you, and I get the feeling Arundel knows some influential types.”

Dimitri grumbled his reluctant agreement, but Edelgard didn’t even hear him. She was turning the doorknob as if in a trance, sure that eventually something had to give. That this nightmarish day would fall away around her

_click_

and she would be in her bed

_click_

her friends chattering joyfully away in the group text

_click_

a woman with sea-blue hair smiling at her

_click_

And a father who was-

A loud squawking noise pulled her attention back to her surroundings. Hubert was pacing in his cage below, fluffing his wings and looking up at his owner.

“Lady Edelgard! Lady Edelgard! Lady Edelgard! Lady Edelgard!”

Half kneeling, half falling, Edelgard landed on the floor next to him, lightly pressing a finger through the bars of the birdcage. Hopping forward, the parrort nuzzled his beak against her finger.

“Lady Edelgard! Lady Edelgard.”

“Hubert,” she whispered, “I’m so sorry.”

[Dorothea]: i can’t believe it

[Dorothea]: how is she

[Claude]: She’s quiet. Dimi and I tried to ask the clerk where they took her stuff, but they said it was confidential.

[Dorothea]: shitheads

[Claude]: i’ve never seen him angry before

[Claude]: would not reccomend

[Dorothea]: i’ll start clearing up a room for her.

[Claude]: that’s probably best

[Claude]: dimitri offered but i dunno if she should be in such a huge house right now

[Claude]: somewhere familiar might help

[Dorothea]: of course

[Dorothea]: still can’t believe this is happening, can’t believe her uncle kicked her out

[Dorothea]: do you know why?

[Claude]: who’s to say why a rich asshole does rich asshole things

[Dorothea]: big mood

[Dorothea]: tell edie i love her and she’s welcome as long as she needs <3

[Claude]: Thanks, Dorothea.

The rest of the evening faded into a blur for Edelgard. She’d walked, halfheartedly, back to the limousine, Hubert’s cage in her arms. They had driven across town, onto the section of campus where Dorothea Arnault lived.

She’d been ushered inside in a shower of well-wishes and reassurances, but fatigue kept her mouth shut and her reactions limited. Now, she realized, she was sitting cross-legged on an unfamiliar bed, staring out of the window at the distant moon.

A knock came at the door, but it seemed only a formality, as Dorothea let herself in. The actress, typically bursting with energy, looked drained, mascara stains under her eyes and a frown on her face.

“Hey, Edie.” 

She climbed onto the bed next to Edelgard, still a few inches away.

“Is there anything I can get you?”

Edelgard shook her head.

“No.”

Exhaustion had set in now, the backlash from the day’s emotions taking its toll. Dorothea nodded, not thrown by Edelgard’s uncommonly brusque response.

“Okay. Do you want to go to bed? I can ask Bernie to be quiet in the living room for you.”

Edelgard shook her head once more.

“Not yet.” She hesitated. “Tell her thank you for letting me use her room.”

It had surprised Edelgard, even in her semi-conscious state, to see Bernadetta standing in full view as she arrived at the apartment, though she did duck behind a door when Dimitri and Claude stepped inside. But the recluse eventually made her way out once more, and beckoned Edelgard into her bedroom, offering it as a place to sleep for the night.

A soft half-smile spread across Dorothea’s lips. “Yeah. She told me that she thought you might want some private time. I’m proud of her, you know.”

“Mmm.” Edelgard sank back once more, her back resting against the headboard. It groaned as she leaned into it, the harsh sensation of the wood on her shoulders bringing feeling back to her body for what felt like the first time in hours.

“Right. Well, I’ll let you rest for now. We can talk when you’re ready, okay?” Dorothea stood up to leave, and something in Edelgard rebelled. 

She wanted to talk, truly, but for once, the words were stuck in her throat. She yearned to let her feelings loose, pour out the emotions that wouldn’t stop coming, but a part of her refused. Even though she’d known the woman in front of her for years, there was something that felt wrong about revealing this to Dorothea. Not when she didn’t know everything yet. In the end, she was only able to force one word out.

“Dorothea?”

Dorothea turned around once more.

“Yes, Edie?”

Moisture began to well up under Edelgard’s eyes. “I...I think I need a hug.”

The taller woman was wrapped around Edelgard in the blink of an eye, warm limbs encircling her as a curtain of auburn hair fell across her face. Edelgard was weeping now, what felt like an entire day’s worth of tears gushing out as she pressed her face into the shoulder of Dorothea’s shirt. Words made it from her brain only to fall apart halfway to her mouth, and only gasps and sobs came out.

“It’s okay. You’ll get through this, Edie. It’s okay.” Dorothea’s soothing tone cut through some of the tension, her breath warm on Edelgard’s ear. As she finally pulled away, Dorothea’s face was twisted in sympathy. “You sure you’re not ready to talk yet?”

Edelgard shook her head, an apology caught on her lips.

“That’s alright.” On her way out of the room, Dorothea paused. “But Edie? I think there’s someone who might be able to help. Someone who seems to have helped you a lot already.” With a final smile, she exited.

[Lady Bernadalia, Tyrant Of The Scarlet Horde, Slayer Of Kings], you have been Away From Keyboard for Two Hours. Another hour of inactivity will result in forced log-out from the server!]

[Lady Bernadalia, Tyrant Of The Scarlet Horde, Slayer Of Kings], only thirty minutes remain until forced log-out is initiated!

[You have received a chat request from “byleth”! Accept?] [Yes/No]

[byleth]: have you heard any more news?

[Lady Bernadalia, Tyrant Of The Scarlet Horde, Slayer Of Kings]: Byleth?

[byleth]: yeah?

[Lady Bernadalia, Tyrant Of The Scarlet Horde, Slayer Of Kings]: It’s me, Edelgard.

[byleth]: ????

[Lady Bernadalia, Tyrant Of The Scarlet Horde, Slayer Of Kings]: I’m in Bernadetta’s room.

[Lady Bernadalia, Tyrant Of The Scarlet Horde, Slayer Of Kings]: She’s letting me use it tonight.

[Lady Bernadalia, Tyrant Of The Scarlet Horde, Slayer Of Kings]: saw the notification pop up in this game

[byleth]: oh my god

[byleth]: edelgard i’m so sorry

[byleth]: i heard what happened

[Lady Bernadalia, Tyrant Of The Scarlet Horde, Slayer Of Kings]: No need to apologize.

[byleth]: I wanted to text you earlier but i was worried

[byleth]: i know i’m not great at social stuff

[byleth]: didn’t want to say the wrong thing

[Lady Bernadalia, Tyrant Of The Scarlet Horde, Slayer Of Kings]: It’s alright.

[Lady Bernadalia, Tyrant Of The Scarlet Horde, Slayer Of Kings]: My father is dead, Byleth. 

[Lady Bernadalia, Tyrant Of The Scarlet Horde, Slayer Of Kings]: And Arundel took my house.

[Lady Bernadalia, Tyrant Of The Scarlet Horde, Slayer Of Kings]: My car.

[Lady Bernadalia, Tyrant Of The Scarlet Horde, Slayer Of Kings]: Everything I owned.

[byleth]: if there’s ever anything I can do to help just ask

[Lady Bernadalia, Tyrant Of The Scarlet Horde, Slayer Of Kings]: You already have.

[Lady Bernadalia, Tyrant Of The Scarlet Horde, Slayer Of Kings]: The people who took the things from my apartment left some items behind.

[Lady Bernadalia, Tyrant Of The Scarlet Horde, Slayer Of Kings]: Likely just what they thought they couldn’t sell.

[Lady Bernadalia, Tyrant Of The Scarlet Horde, Slayer Of Kings]: Your bear is safe.

[byleth]: good

[Lady Bernadalia, Tyrant Of The Scarlet Horde, Slayer Of Kings]: Byleth?

[byleth]: yeah?

[[Lady Bernadalia, Tyrant Of The Scarlet Horde, Slayer Of Kings] is typing…]

[[Lady Bernadalia, Tyrant Of The Scarlet Horde, Slayer Of Kings] is typing…]

[[Lady Bernadalia, Tyrant Of The Scarlet Horde, Slayer Of Kings] is typing…]

[[Lady Bernadalia, Tyrant Of The Scarlet Horde, Slayer Of Kings]: i really need to be with you right now.

[byleth]: On my way.

[byleth] has logged out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Super Secret Author's Notes:
> 
> \- Hubert pecked the shit out of whoever tried to touch his cage.  
\- Dimitri lives at his deceased parents' house with Dedue and sometimes Ashe. I wanted to expand on this in a side story but it's been sorta put on hiatus!  
-the director of Holy Kingdom is exactly who you think it is, yes.  
\- somewhere bernadetta is lying on a couch thinking both of how terrifying the outside world is and how she forgot to log out of LGO and she's gonna get ganked.
> 
> The Deepest Secret Of Author's Notes:
> 
> Hello! So, I just wanted to mention a few things about my current RL situation. As I mentioned last time, I have a full time job now. It's something I'm extremely grateful for, and the extra spending money is of course wonderful, but it does leave me with 40 less hours of free time a week. In addition, I'm often really exhausted when I get home. Since we're getting very close to the end of LOTD, I will be doing my best to push through these next few updates in a reasonable timeframe, but I apologize in advance if it is slower than you'd like. Unfortunately that's just sort of the way things are right now. I'm a little unhappy with how "polished" this chapter feels, so it may be revisited in the future. I'll gauge the reaction and go from there.
> 
> Also, happy Cindered Shadows release day! Now the Wolves can join Jeritza in my list of characters I Forgot To Put In This Story. It's a shame, I just watched Balthus' supports and he might be one of my new faves.
> 
> Thanks so much for reading, as always I am FLOORED by the wonderful reaction the fic has received. Please feel free to leave any feedback!


	19. Imperious

The week after the death of Ionius Hresvelg passed, for Edelgard, as if it were not a week at all, but one long and arduous day, broken up by attempts at fitful sleep and sudden bouts of lethargy. Everything, it seemed, happened in slow motion. 

She spent most of her time in the bed she’d borrowed from Bernadetta, swaddled up in an array of blankets. It wasn’t as if the apartment was cold, but somehow their presence was comforting. She had sent an email to the university’s administration office on the first morning after returning from Holy Kingdom, nestled in the arms of a still slumbering Byleth, announcing her intention to take an emergency leave of absence.

Byleth had been a constant stabilizing force. Even when she wasn’t at the apartment, Byleth would send the occasional encouraging text, always seeming to know when Edelgard’s emotions would begin to smother her.

[Byleth]: i’ll be back soon

[Byleth]: hope things are good today 

[Byleth]: flane (flain?) says hello

[Byleth]: *flayn

Amidst the stormy seas she found herself in, Byleth was a life raft, and one that Edelgard was incredibly grateful for. 

That was of course not to discount the contributions made by her oldest friend, Dorothea Arnault. Dorothea was a gracious host, often attempting to coax Edelgard into the kitchen to eat with her at mealtimes, or bringing her food when persuasion failed. 

“I never really had a great relationship with my dad, you know?” she had mused one night, sitting at the end of the bed. “So I can’t say I know exactly how you feel, but...I want you to know I’ll be here if you need to talk.”

“I know.” Edelgard’s voice was hoarse, her usual imperious tone caught somewhere in the depths of her throat. “I appreciate that very much.”

With a hum of acknowledgement, Dorothea laid back on the bed, looking up at Edelgard with a look of concern on her face. “Really, are you sure there’s nothing else I can do for you, Edie?”

“You’ve given me a place in your home. You have done more than enough.”

Dorothea frowned. “And you’re always welcome. I guess I just wish there was something I could say to make things feel less...awful, right now.”

Edelgard shrugged. “That is kind of you. But things are too complicated for words alone, I think.”

“And you still haven’t given me the whole story.”

Edelgard blinked. “I beg your pardon?”

“Oh, Edie…” Dorothea shook her head, eyes squeezed shut. “You’re so good at reading people, but you think no one can do it to you, don’t you?” Before Edelgard could protest, Dorothea continued. “You’ve always had something you keep very quiet, buried deep down, but I see it. How you fake sleep, how you didn’t eat right, how sometimes you freeze up and your eyes look like you’re somewhere else…”

Shifting her position beneath the comforter, Edelgard’s lips drew into a tight grimace, no sound escaping from between them.

“I know you’ve been going through something for a long time.” The corners of Dorothea’s lips turned up, a faint smile appearing. “But lately, you seem less affected by it. You’re eating real food again, you aren’t waking up screaming in the middle of the night anymore, and before you lost your father I saw some genuine smiles on those cheeks, Edie!” She reached two fingers up, lightly pushing at Edelgard’s cheeks, and the other woman couldn’t help but giggle. “And you asked me to hug you. That’s...that’s some real progress. You’ve been talking to someone, haven’t you?”

Edelgard nodded. There was no reason to keep up the illusion, not with Dorothea. “I have.”

Dorothea’s grin widened. “It’s Byleth.”

Edelgard’s eyes wandered to the curtains, which had suddenly become far more interesting than she’d ever noticed before. 

“Hey, I’m not going to tease you about it.” Dorothea raised a finger to her lips. “Well, not right now, anyway. I’m a little hurt you didn’t come to me, to be honest, but I’m absolutely thrilled that she’s managed to crack that shell of yours.”

“You’ll know everything soon.” Edelgard murmured. “I’m sorry I’ve not been able to come clean about it earlier, it’s just...complicated.”

Dorothea nodded. “Your family is richer than God, but you were just kicked out of your one-room apartment. I assume everything’s at least a _little_ complicated with you.” She rose from the bed, smoothing out the back of her dress as she stood. “Don’t worry, dear. I’ll wait as long as you need me to, okay? Get some rest.”

Bernadetta, too, had been surprisingly accommodating, given the woman’s reluctance to leave her room even a week earlier. The recluse now spent most of her time in a corner of Dorothea’s living room, beneath a makeshift tent of comforters on the couch. Still, she sometimes returned to her room to use the computer, at which time Edelgard would often try to make conversation.

“I want to thank you for allowing me to use your bedroom.”

Bernadetta had nearly leapt out of her violet leather chair at the sound of Edelgard’s voice. “Aaaah! Oh, uh, I mean...no problem! Not an issue at all! Nope! All yours! So sorry!”

Bernadetta seemed to shrink by several inches as she slid further forward in her seat, all but the top of her head disappearing behind it. With her newly unobstructed view, Edelgard could see something familiar on the computer screen. A man stood before a castle, surrounded by a sea of knights in crimson armor. His arms were raised to the sky, and above him, a twister of fire swirled amongst the clouds.

“Is that Arvis?” Edelgard asked, sitting up in the bed. Like a jack-in-the-box, Bernadetta sprang up once more, trying to cover the screen with her body.

“Uh, yeah! I...I was curious about the game! And since you and Dorothea play I...I looked it up and…”

Edelgard chuckled in spite of herself. “Bernadetta, it’s fine to be interested. There’s no need to feel embarrassed.”

Bernadetta spun the chair around, giving Edelgard a nod that seemed to contradict her dinner-plate sized eyes. “I know! It’s just that, uh, you know, going down to the shop and everything, it’s...it’s a lot for me, and I’ve never really been able to do that sort of thing, and I’m sorry.”

“There is no need to apologize, Bernadetta.” Edelgard forced a smile. “I’d be glad to teach you to play from the safety of your own room, if you’d like.” She, in truth, wasn’t a fan of teaching new players. The work she did at GMU was one thing, involving students who were already familiar with the basics of the field of chemistry. However, beginning from scratch with a game she’d delved so deeply into had a different feeling. For someone who had been so hospitable, however, she would swallow her pride and make an exception.

“Th-that would be great!”

“Wonderful. I’ll let you borrow a deck from my collection.” Edelgard paused a moment, reality whispering in her ear. “Wait. I won’t.”

“Why not?” Bernadetta asked. Then she seemed to implode, shaking her arms and clamping her hands to her forehead. “Oh my god! They took them! Those guys who came into your apartment must have taken them like they took everything except for thebirdthebirdisverynicebythewayheusedtoscaremebutithinkhessweetandi’msorryidon’tmeantochangethesubjectsorrysorrysorryishouldn’thavesaidthatimessedupi’msosorryididn’trealizeiforgotohgodyoumusthatemeberniewhywhydidyou-”

“Bernadetta!” Edelgard sat up straight, just coming short of running up to the panicking woman herself. However, she knew from experience that unexpected contact might only make the panic more severe. “Please calm yourself! You’ve done nothing wrong, I’m the one who brought it up in the first place.”

She’d been grappling with the loss of her worldly possessions for the past few days. It felt hollow in the wake of Ionius’ death, perhaps even slightly callous, to mourn things like a laptop, collection of textbooks, photos, and of course, stacks upon stacks of Fire Emblem cards. Still, it gnawed at her. Made her feel stolen from, cheated, and barren. Worst of all, she knew that these were merely the earliest consequences of her rebellion.

A stammer came from Bernadetta. “O-okay! I’m calm. I’m calm.” She ran a hand through her violet hair, tousling it away from her eyes and back into its usual bowl shape. “S-s-sorry! I just...I know this has to be so hard for you!”

“It is.” Edelgard replied. “That doesn’t mean I’m not lucky to have you and Dorothea extending such hospitality to me. I understand how big a sacrifice it is for you to give up your bedroom.”

With a nod, Bernie leaned back in the chair. “It’s...not easy, no. So...thanks for saying that.” She suddenly stood, flicking the monitor’s power off as she rose to her feet. “Well, I, uh, need to go help Dorothea make dinner. I’ll see you later.”

As Bernie fled the room, Edelgard was left alone, visions of everything she lost hovering before her.

It had been just over one week since her father’s passing when Edelgard found herself gathered around Dorothea’s kitchen table with Bernadetta and Byleth. Dorothea was standing at the countertop, cheerfully humming a tune from a show Edelgard recalled having seen with her nearly three years ago. Bernadetta had her knees tucked up to her chest, eyes glancing around the room, but when she caught sight once more of the peach sorbet Dorothea had waiting on the counter, she seemed to be coaxed into staying. (Dorothea had informed Edelgard that she did this on purpose.) Byleth was already eating, having pulled a stick of beef jerky from the depths of one of her many jacket pockets.

“Byleth, hon, I’m ladeling the soup out literally right now.” Dorothea sighed and put the ladel-free hand on her hip. “Can you hold on for a moment?”

“Sorry.” Byleth muttered. Somewhat meekly, she tried her best to cover the half-eaten end of the meat stick with the remains of the wrapper and plunged it back into her coat.

Suddenly, a tone came from Edelgard’s phone, but not the typical one. This was louder, more urgent, because she’d set it that way. This tone only sounded when she received an email from the university, or a text from her father. As she pulled the phone to her face, she wondered what GMU may have wanted to say.

Subj: Urgent: Meeting Required  
Sender: chair@gmu.net

Hello Ms. Hresvelg,

It has come to my attention that it is important we discuss the future of your employment and enrollment at Garreg Mach University. 

I’d like to arrange a meeting at my office in Seiros Hall this week so that I can ensure we are on the same page going forward.

I will be open for two hours on Monday evening, at 4:00 PM. If that timetable is acceptable for you as well, I will expect to see you there. Simply respond to this message if it is not, but I must insist we meet this week. This seems to be an urgent issue.

Respectfully,

Chairwoman Rhea

The sweat seemed to freeze on Edelgard’s back. She reread the first sentence, again and again.

_the future of your employment and enrollment_

“El?”

Byleth was leaning across the table, her brow furrowed. “Are you feeling okay? You got tense. Looked scared.”

Edelgard prepared an excuse, something about a crass joke from Caspar or a bug crawling across her skin, but surrounded by people who trusted her, Edelgard was unable to lie. She extended her arm, phone in hand, and Dorothea snatched it up, giving the message a read. The actress’ typically smiling face turned to a frown quickly.

“Is she really this pissy about you taking a week of emergency leave after your father died? Ugh. Stuffed shirts, I swear…”

“I don’t...I don’t think that would be it.” Dorothea turned to see Bernadetta peeking over her shoulder. “The...the university rules specifically outline that in the case of a traumatic death in the family, faculty have two weeks of emergency leave available.” Bernie winced. “S-sorry if I’m intruding! I don’t mean to-”

“It’s alright, Bernadetta.” Edelgard clutched at her temple and let out a soft moan. She knew what the cause likely was, and judging by the morose expression on Byleth’s face, she knew as well. She had always been in excellent standing with the university, so to receive a message tinged with such threats indicated something had changed. This was the type of change that had Volkhard Arundel written all over it. She glanced up. “Has anyone met the chairwoman?”

Dorothea shook her head. “My dad knows her.” Byleth muttered. Bernadetta, to Edelgard’s surprise, nodded.

“I, uh, I have! I’ve been to her office before.”

“Really?” Dorothea gasped. “Why?”

“My...my dad…” She quickly glanced at Edelgard, as if the word would cause her to wither away, but Edelgard reassured her with a nod. “My dad tried to make me stay home, he didn’t want me to leave! So he made me apply for an exception to the campus rules, and I had to talk to her about them. I told her what was happening and she...uh...she refused the exception, so I had to...got to...I came here!”

“Hmm.” Byleth muttered. “So she’s reasonable.”

“I...I think so!” Bernadetta continued. “But scary. Terrifying! Intimidating! I didn’t know what to say to her!”

Dorothea wrapped an arm gently around Bernadetta’s shoulders. “No offense, Bernie, but...you kinda think that about everyone, don’t you?” She turned to Edelgard, flashing her warmest practiced smile. “Edie, I think you’ll be alright. I’m sure you can get whatever misunderstanding the chairwoman has cleared right up.” She giggled. “And if you don’t, I’ll sing the entire soundtrack to _Cats_ outside her office window until she gives in or tosses me in the secret campus dungeons where they keep the worst troublemakers.”

Edelgard took her phone back, her thumb hovering above the reply button. She could ask for another date, find an opportunity to buy time, but that simply felt like running away from her problems. With Arundel involved, she had learned it was best to move quickly, because he certainly would.

“Well, I suppose I don’t have a choice in the matter. I’ll meet with the chairwoman on Monday.” Edelgard glanced over at Byleth, who gave her an affirming nod.

“May I ask a favor, Edie? May I style your hair before you go?” Dorothea was leaning across the table, batting her eyelashes in an exaggerated fashion that Edelgard couldn’t help but snicker at.

“It would, perhaps, be unwise to meet with her looking as if I’ve been in bed for a week. Although I have.”

Dorothea rubbed her palms together, grinning so wide that Edelgard could nearly count her teeth. “Oh, Edie. This is going to be fun.”

The first thing Edelgard noticed about the chairwoman’s lobby was the sheer weight of the atmosphere inside. Collections of antiques lined the walls, casting shadows over dark leather sofas and making the entire office feel like a museum. It was cramped, or perhaps simply felt that way, and every step she took made Edelgard feel as if she was wading through molasses.

Perhaps, though, that was due to the newfound weight on her head. Dorothea had worked a magic that Edelgard didn’t know she even possessed, diving into Edelgard’s carefully straightened locks and twirling them about, carefully forming a pair of large buns that now rested on the sides of her head. She’d had concerns about the...uniqueness of such a hairstyle, but in Dorothea’s words: “You look _regal_. Fancy people love regal.”

The waiting room was windowless, but a bright fluorescent bulb hummed above the desk at the rear of the chamber. A young man with unkempt hair sat there, fastidiously typing something into a computer before Edelgard approached the desk.

“Hello there.” He said, glancing up. “Do you have an appointment with the Chairwoman?”

“I do.” Edelgard cleared her throat. “I’m Edelgard Hresvelg. Chairwoman Rhea sent me an e-mail last weekend.”

“Mmhmm. Give me just a moment.” The receptionist began to tap at the keyboard once more, looking intently at the monitor. “Alright. That checks out!” He inclined his head towards one of the shaded sofas. “Please take a seat. The Chairwoman will be with you shortly.”

As Edelgard sat down, she quickly slipped the phone out of her pocket and sent a brief message.

Monday, 3:55 PM

Black Eagles Group Chat

(You are an Admin)

Eight Members

[Edelgard]: Made it to the office. Waiting on the Chairwoman.

[Caspar]: good luck!!!

[Linhardt]: ^^^

[Dorothea]: You got this!!!!

[Ferdinand]: We wish you the best!

[Bernadetta]: be brave!

[Petra]: We are believing in you!

[byleth]: i’ll be here

[byleth]: no matter what

With a smile on her face, she switched the phone off.

A light affixed to the receptionist’s desk blinked. The young man stood and motioned for Edelgard to follow him.  
“The Chairwoman will see you now.”

Natural light once again streamed into Edelgard’s eyes as she followed the receptionist through a dark oak door. One of the office walls was a massive window, looking over the Garreg Mach campus. The space was immaculate, every bit of furniture seeming to be placed with calculated perfection. The room was dominated by a massive desk. While a full row of chairs sat in front of it, only one was behind, and it was occupied.

Rhea was smiling, her long green locks of hair tumbling down onto a white pantsuit. She was at once gentle and intimidating, and Edelgard couldn’t place her age. There was at once a mix of youthful strength and elderly wisdom in the way she seemed to carry herself.

“Thank you very much, Cyril.” she said, a serene smile on her face.

Behind her, Edelgard could hear the door close, and she was suddenly alone with Rhea.

“Miss Hresvelg, I presume?” The chairwoman gestured at the row of chairs. “Please, relax. We have quite a bit to discuss.” As Edelgard settled into her seat, Rhea’s welcoming smile shifted into a sterner expression. “Before we discuss any other matters, I would like to extend my deepest condolences on the passing of your father. I met Ionius at a fundraiser many years ago, he seemed to be an exceptional man.”

Edelgard nodded. “Thank you, Chairwoman. I apologize if my absence has been troublesome for the university.”  
Rhea shook her head. “Do not worry Ms. Hresvelg, you followed all of the procedures as well as could be expected, given the unexpected nature of your emergency.” She folded her hands and placed them on the table. “I will get directly to the core of the matter, Miss Hresvelg. We have received a number of alarming complaints from your students.”

“Complaints?” Edelgard leaned in, her eyes wide. “Of what nature?” Her heart began to pump faster. So this was Arundel’s plan.

Rhea began to flip through a stack of documents in front of her, examining the headers on each. The sound of paper against her nails was the only audible thing in the room. “These early complaints are of a standard nature, they’ve trickled in across your time as a professor. You give “too much homework”, “grade too harshly”, that sort of thing.” Rhea chuckled mirthlessly. “Those are not why I called you here today. I’d be far more worried if you didn’t receive those types of complaints, every professor we employ does. No, Miss Hresvelg, the reports that concern me began to come in on Monday.”

Letting the back half of the stack of papers trickle to the top of the desk, Rhea cleared her throat and began to flip through the remaining reports.

“This student alleges that you accepted bribes on an examination, alluding to him that you would raise his grade in exchange for monetary compensation.”

“That is a lie. I would never-”

Rhea held up a hand. “Please allow me to finish, you will be given time to present your case.” As Edelgard seemed to visibly deflate, she continued.

“Here is an allegation that you came into class intoxicated. This student claims that you shouted at them during office hours. This report alleges you destroyed a student’s property during an in-class outburst, with another student serving as witness to the event.” With a sigh, the chairwoman looked up to Edelgard as composed as she could be, but still slightly squirming in her seat with indignation. “Each student claims that you threatened them with expulsion or failure if these reports were submitted, and thus they waited until you missed class.”

“Chairwoman Rhea…” Edelgard was fuming, rage boiling in her chest. She took pride in her work and reputation as an instructor, and to have it sullied in a petty attempt to punish her disobedience was infuriating. “I must assure you that every one of these accusations is entirely false. I swear, I will do everything in my power to prove to you that-”

Rhea’s palm came up again. “Miss Hresvelg, I was not finished. Upon receiving news of these...incidents, I took it upon myself to consider the circumstances.” With a light creaking sound, Rhea swiveled in her chair and began to look out the window. “A respected graduate student is suddenly accused of several outrageous violations of university policy, all on the same week.” She glanced at Edelgard, a tiny grin playing at her lips. “I am not new to this position, Miss Hresvelg. My greatest concern is for the students, but not only are you also a student at our esteemed university, I do not simply disregard the concerns of my faculty members. So I spoke to them.”

“Professor Hanneman?” Edelgard asked. Rhea nodded.

“Oh, he was quite outspoken about your virtues as a student and research assistant alike. Dr. Casagrande was of a similar mind, claiming the only fault she could find was that you seemed to care perhaps _too_ much.”  
Red dusted Edelgard’s cheeks as she recalled the story Byleth had told her about the campus’ doctor arriving at the Eisner’s RV and doting over her unconscious form.

“Many other students I interviewed painted a consistent picture.” Rhea swung her chair back around to face Edelgard directly, her imperious form looming over the desk. “You are a dedicated worker, sometimes harsh, often humorless, but always reasonable. You care deeply for your position and your students. This, Miss Hresvelg, does not sound like the sort of person who would commit these violations.” 

Edelgard breathed out, not realizing exactly how much air seemed to have been backed up in her lungs. “Thank you, Chairwoman. That assessment sounds...accurate to me.”

“So why now?” Her brow furrowed, Rhea leaned back in her seat. “Why, Miss Hresvelg, have I suddenly received these complaints? Does it have anything to do with the recent passing of Ionius?”

“I believe so.” Edelgard swallowed, preparing to divulge just enough information to save her career. “My father had a...former business associate who I believe is seeking to discredit me in an effort to cement his new position at the head of the Adrestia Group.” Rhea’s eyebrows inclined, and Edelgard felt a chill at the base of her throat. “I realize that sounds conspiratory, but he is a very wealthy man, fully capable of bribing or persuading a few students to lie about their chemistry professor. His name is Volkhard Arundel.”

Suddenly, Rhea’s expression changed. The decorum and serenity that seemed to follow the chairwoman fell away as if in an instant. Her lips curled into a snarl, and the desk squeaked as her hands pressed against it.

“Arundel?”

Edelgard nodded. “Indeed.”

Exhaling deeply, Rhea sat back in her chair. “Miss Hresvelg, I must apologize for the situation we find ourselves in. Had I known that these were the circumstances…” She nodded at the door. “Thank you for your time today. You are free to go, and your employment and enrollment at the university will continue.”

Her legs still slightly trembling, Edelgard stood. “Thank you, Chairwoman.” Questions swirled in her brain. What did Rhea know about Arundel? Why had she reacted so suddenly to his name? But she had an opening now, and she would take it. As she began to exit the room, Rhea called after her.

“One last note. I take the safety of my students and faculty very, very seriously. While I do not believe you are guilty of these alleged infractions, I will be keeping a close eye out when you return to work, Miss Hresvelg. Do we understand one another?”

“Yes, Chairwoman.” As she exited the office, nodding farewell to the receptionist, Edelgard’s head continued to spin, but she could think of nothing more urgent than reaching for her phone and sending a message.

[Edelgard]: I made it.

Flicking off the phone once more, she left Seiros Hall behind.

After the tension of the morning’s preparations and the uncertain atmosphere of the Chairwoman’s office, the crisp autumn air on Garreg Mach’s campus was nothing short of liberating. Though she was composed as always, Edelgard could feel an odd bounce in her step as she trekked across familiar concrete paths.

It was strange, after the week of reliving Ionius’ last moments, the sheer emptiness she felt looking over his corpse, to receive news that felt worthy of hope. She had foiled one of Arundel’s plots, though perhaps through little work of her own. It was invigorating, satisfying, and most of all, encouraging. Perhaps the man was not as invincible and all-seeing as she had believed.

“Edelgard!”

To her surprise, a familiar young woman rushed up to her, dashing away from the entrance to one of the campus shops.

“Lysithea!” Edelgard smiled at her classmate, who already seemed to be huffing and puffing from the rather mild run. “Good to see you.”

“Yikes. Remind me not to team up with you for the campus relay race, Lys.” His arms folded behind his head, Claude Riegan approached. “Hey there, Edelgard. How was your meeting with the big cheese?”

“I won’t even ask how you were made aware of that, Claude.” Edelgard sighed. “It went...perfectly, honestly. She understood my circumstances. Evidently Arundel is not one of the chairwoman’s favorite people.”

Lysithea shuddered slightly at the name. “Hmmph. I suppose you don’t act like that much of a creep without making a few enemies.”

“Sounds like good news to me.” Claude shrugged. “You headed out for a victory meal, Edelgard?”

“Not right now.” Edelgard shook her head. “I’m on my way to see Byleth and her father.”

“Cool! I’ll walk with ya.” Without waiting for a response, Claude began to walk in the direction of the campus outskirts where Edelgard knew the Eisners kept their mobile home. She shook her head, sighing as she glanced over to Lysithea.  
“Would you like to come as well?”

“I’m afraid I can’t. I must be on my way to class, but I’ll talk to you later!” As quickly as she came, Lysithea was away once more, and Edelgard quickly walked to catch up to the longer-legged Golden Deer captain.

“So…” Claude began, a few minutes into their stroll, “any bright ideas about how we’re gonna deal with Agartha?” 

“Afraid not.” Edelgard pursed her lips as Claude nodded.

“Whatever we decide on, it isn’t gonna be easy. You don’t just take down a company that powerful overnight.”

“I’m aware.” She knew Claude was right, but hearing it out loud was somehow disheartening. It wasn’t as if Edelgard didn’t know she was at a disadvantage in the fight she’d picked, but hearing it from someone else was a stark reassurance.

As they approached the Eisner’s RV, Edelgard’s heart soared.

It plummeted when she saw the figure standing outside of it.

There, dressed in a pressed black suit, towering bodyguard at his side, was Volkhard Arundel.

“Edelgard!” he called with a grin. “Lovely day, isn’t it?”

“What are you doing here?” Edelgard asked. She could feel every nerve in her body shrieking, her impulse to launch herself at the man nearly strong enough to overcome her own good sense. Claude had frozen next to her, his arms crossed and an uncommon frown on his face.

“I came to visit my goddaughter. Is that so wrong, Edelgard?” Arundel glanced at Claude, his eyes narrowed. “Is this a friend of yours?”

“The name is Bastian.” Claude lied. “Bastian Crimea. And just so you know, I’m already entirely aware of your shit, so don’t hold back for my sake.”

To Edelgard’s surprise, Arundel didn’t seem to balk at Claude’s rebuttal. He simply chuckled. “Well, I suppose there’s no need for pleasantries.” He glared at Edelgard. “El.” The word felt like a dagger launched from his lips, coated in the venom of years of lies and manipulation. “Enough of this foolishness. I want to help you, and I can’t do that if you’re continuing this little tantrum. It is time to return home, I’ve arranged for a room for you in my estate. You will have everything you need.”

“Everything you stole from me, you mean?” Edelgard snarled. “I know you’re behind my eviction, Arundel. Just like you were behind those complaints to the chairwoman, and just like you killed my father!”

Arundel’s eyes widened. “I am appalled, young lady! That you would accuse me of something so dire speaks to an immaturity that I never expected from you! Do you think you can just-”

“Don’t talk to her like that!” The front door of the Eisner’s RV swung open, and a shout came from inside, louder than Edelgard had ever heard that voice before. “Don’t talk to her at all!”

Byleth had stormed outside, jacket half on and hair still frizzy as if she’d just stood up from bed. She stomped across the grass, finger outstretched and pointed towards Arundel like a skewer. He stepped back, and Myson took his place, staring at Byleth as she continued to approach.

“Hold on, kid!”

Byleth stopped in her tracks as Jeralt appeared, rubbing the back of his head. He turned to Arundel and frowned. “Sir, I don’t know what you’re doing here, but you seem to have upset my daughter and her friend. I would appreciate it if you took yourself and your friend elsewhere.”

Outnumbered but undeterred, Arundel scoffed. “Do you own these grounds, sir? I am in no violation of any campus rules. I have simply arrived to have a conversation with my goddaughter, and I find it rather rude of you to even ask such a question.”

With a groan, Jeralt looked in Edelgard’s direction. Slowly, his expression changed. “I suppose I don’t own these grounds, sir. But if that’s your hangup, I think I know who you can talk to.” He inclined his robust chin, and everyone crowded around the mobile home turned to look at their approaching visitor.

“Volkhard Arundel!” 

In the office, Rhea had been behind a desk, but at her full height, she was even taller than Edelgard remembered. As she strode past her, Edelgard came to the shocking realization that not only was the chairwoman of Garreg Mach University mentally acute, she seemed to be unexpectedly _muscular_. 

“You will depart from my campus now, or I will phone the police!”

To Edelgard’s delight, Arundel, for the first time she had ever seen, looked utterly shocked, and perhaps even a little bit afraid. “Rhea…” he grumbled. “I should have known you would-”

“This is not a matter of debate.” Rhea planted herself firmly between Edelgard and Arundel. “You will leave. Now.”  
For the next few moments, the air seemed to still as Arundel looked between the assembled crowd. After what felt like minutes of silence, he sighed. “It seems none of you are willing to have a civilized discussion. Very well. Edelgard, my offer stands for now, though I would suggest you hurry your decision.”

“I would suggest you burn in Hell.”

With a shake of his head and a roll of his eyes, Arundel turned and began to walk away, Myson close at his heels.  
“Chairwoman Rhea.” Jeralt muttered. He stepped fully out of the RV, the door clattering behind him as he walked onto the campus lawn. “Thanks for the backup there.”

“Think nothing of it.” Rhea sniffed, turning to Edelgard. “I am simply glad I happened to arrive in time.”

“Yeah, you sure did get here fast.” Claude spoke up. “Got a sixth sense for troublemakers, Chairwoman?”

Despite the attempt at levity, Rhea didn’t so much as crack a smile. “I was simply on my way to deliver something to Miss Hresvelg. I thought I could catch up to her before she left campus, and a student informed me that she was likely to be heading for Jeralt’s home.”

Edelgard made a mental note to buy Lysithea a pack of candy once she received her next university stipend.

“A delivery?” Edelgard inquired. “Did I leave something behind?”

“No, it is...just a moment.” Rhea reached into her bag and fished out a sleek silver phone, handing it to Edelgard. “It would be simpler if you heard for yourself.”

Edelgard tilted the screen out of the sun, and when the glare faded away, she was suddenly staring at a green mass of beard hair.

“Father! It is tilted the wrong way!” came a tinny voice from over the line.

“What?”

“The camera! It is on top!”

“Oh!”

A massive shape blocked out Edelgard’s view.

“No, Father! Your finger is on the lens!”

“No it isn’t! The lens is right here, and my-”

“The other lens!”

“Ah! Ah!”

Finally, the obstruction lifted, and Seteth appeared on screen, looking thoroughly flustered by the experience. “Hello, Edelgard!”

“Seteth?”

“Indeed.” The store owner nodded his head, beginning to walk and wobbling the camera about. “I apologize for the odd method of communication. I attempted to call your cell phone, but I got no answer. I contacted Ms. Arnault, and she said you were meeting with the Chairwoman. So I called the Chairwoman…”

“You know Chairwoman Rhea?” Edelgard asked, her eyes wide.

“Oh yes. We were neighbors, grew up in practically the same house. But I suppose that’s unimportant right now.” 

Seteth had reached the basement of the store now, judging by the brief glimpses of concrete walls Edelgard could catch in the shaking view. “Edelgard, there’s someone who I think you may want to meet.”

Her vision became a blur as Seteth swirled the phone once more, shakily focusing in on a table. There was Dimitri, his cards carefully arranged as he scratched at his chin, clearly in deep thought about the game. His opponent, however, seemed to be someone Edelgard didn’t know.

She was an elderly looking woman, her hair long but grey. She was diminutive, barely able to see over the table in comparison to Dimitri’s bulky form. Most strikingly to Edelgard, though, she was clearly very good at Fire Emblem. Her units outnumbered Dimitri’s, and she could instantly see the hallmarks of a classic Manakete Rush strategy on the board in its final stages. As Seteth approached, the woman turned and looked into the camera, her green eyes shining as she grinned.

Suddenly, Edelgard knew exactly who this woman was. She’d only seen photos before, poring over them in late night research sessions before important tournaments. Group shots of the Emblem Games staff celebrating the games’ earliest releases danced in her head, and Edelgard couldn’t help but gasp as the pieces clicked together in her brain.

With a wrinkled hand, the old woman took the phone from Seteth and smiled.

“Hello, Edelgard. My name is Sothis Lowell. May we talk?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Super Secret Author's Notes:
> 
> \- Rhea has a last name, she just almost never uses it. Her doctorate is in Religious Studies.  
\- Edelgard's most glowing review came from the student she helped back in Chapter 3.  
\- Rhea's issues with Arundel stem from a long time being an important member of the community, especially one dealing with so many people. A few things have...slipped.  
\- Claude's fake name is a rather unsubtle reference (sorry :p) to Duke Bastian of Crimea from the Tellius games! A friend of mine thought there was a resemblance in their characters, both being trickster types, so I had a little fun with it here :p  
\- Byleth and Jeralt were watching Space Jam on the couch.  
\- You may think it's odd that Edelgard and Rhea are on the same side. It is! I'll be talking more about why I made that decision at the conclusion of the fic.  
\- Did you catch the secret message that foreshadowed Sothis' arrival? At the end of "Text Logs, Two" Seteth gets this email:
> 
> Subj: [RE] A Question For You  
Sender: FbguvfYbjryy@mailmail.net
> 
> If you plug that first bit of the email address into a rot13 code, you get SothisLowell!
> 
> Massive props to commenter "johsi" who seemed to have decoded it very quickly after the chapter was posted! Similar props to Xarjet for asking me if there was something significant about the email address or if it was just junk, which I DEFTLY AVOIDED ANSWERING.  
\- if you can tell me the inspiration for sothis' name you get the Fire Emblem nerd crown from me
> 
> Massive thanks to everyone on the Discord who gave this a test read, especially as I posted it in the small hours of the morning and promptly passed out. As always, I greatly welcome any feedback, from kudos to comments, and would be glad to answer (most of) your questions!
> 
> We're coming up on the end, so I'll save some of my usual sappiness. Two chapters remain. Thank you so much for reading, and have a wonderful day!


	20. Progenitor

The bell above Nabatea’s door jingled as Claude gently pushed it open. It nearly fell off of its mount, aggressively clattering, as Edelgard stumbled in, her eyes wide as she rushed down the steps. Byleth was close at her heels, ignoring the baffled glance Claude shot her way.

Edelgard couldn’t believe this was really happening.

A game as large as Fire Emblem had no single “creator”, as it were. Even the very first set of cards was a collaboration between many designers, artists, and businesspeople. However, nearly all fans of the game dedicated enough to do their research (a number Edelgard was certainly among) would give the greatest credit to a woman whose original idea evolved into the game as they knew it. 

Her name was Sothis Lowell, and she was sitting mere feet from Edelgard as she stepped onto the basement floor of Nabatea.

“That’s...hmm...your Lord is at how much health, Dimitri?” Sothis’ voice was light and airy, seeming to float through the air.

Across from her, Dimitri chuckled.

“Twenty, ma’am. Though I must admit, hearing you ask frightens me.”

The melodic voice of the elderly woman shifted into a mischievous cackle. “Hehehe! It should, boy!” She slowly moved an arm across the battlefield, jabbing at each card with an extended nail as she spoke. “I’m moving Tiki to the base of that mountain and activating “Bond of the Divine Dragons”. Now that she’s buffed up, Nagi will fly over the mountain…”

“Nagi isn’t a flying unit, ma’am.”

“Let me finish! AFTER I use this nice Elysian Whip in my hand, which makes her a...hmm…” Sothis flipped the card in Dimitri’s direction and waved it. “What’s that say, son?”

“...A flying unit.”

“Oh! My! What a country, eh?” Sothis chuckled again. “Oh, I’m just teasing you. Nagi hits Eliwood for 25 damage now. I win!”

Exhaling, Dimitri sat back in his chair, looking up at Edelgard with an expression that read with equal parts awe and exhaustion. “That makes it one win for me and...eight for Ms. Lowell. I suppose I should have seen this coming, right, Edelgard?”

She found herself speechless, greetings and admirations circling her mouth but evaporating into air as she tried to speak them. Sothis turned to face her, an eyebrow raised and a mischievous smirk on her face.

“Oh, so this is your “Flame Emperor”, is it, Seteth?” She grinned. “Much shorter than I expected, I have to say.” There was a glint in the woman’s eyes that seemed more youthful than the rest of her. “Come now, dear, I’ve not got all day. Or rather, I do, but it would be foolish of us to waste it staring.”

“You’re Sothis Lowell!” When the words finally emerged, they were somewhere between an exclamation and a whisper. For once, Edelgard found herself unable to draw upon her typical bravado, the “Flame Emperor” evidently caught without her suit of armor. Before her, the elderly woman chuckled.

“I’m Sothis Lowell? Fascinating, dear, but I was hoping we would have a more fruitful discussion than that.” 

“My apologies.” Edelgard cleared her throat, steeling her nerves as she felt Byleth’s reassuring hand on her shoulder. From behind her, Seteth sighed.

“Don’t take Sothis too seriously, Edelgard. She’s become cranky in her old age.”

Sothis smirked. “And you’ve been a stick in the mud since you were five years old, Seteth!” She turned to Dimitri with such a fervor that the man nearly leaned back. “Has Seteth here ever told you about the time he was in a second grade play about hygiene, and he played a roll of toilet-”

“Miss Lowell!” 

All eyes turned to Edelgard once more, back to her typically stalwart self. She thought she heard a sigh of relief escape Seteth’s lips. “My name is Edelgard Hresvelg, and it is a pleasure to meet you. I’m quite an admirer of your work.”

Sothis straightened herself, and Edelgard caught a glimpse of the woman she’d seen in the publicity photos. Even in her old age, Sothis carried an air of quiet strength when she meant to. It reminded her of the way Chairwoman Rhea could dominate a room with her presence.

“I’m very pleased to meet you, Edelgard.” She could see Sothis’ gaze shifting, arcing over her shoulder to the figures behind her.

“Oh! And these are my...friends, Claude Riegan and Byleth Eisner.”

“A pleasure.” Claude called, waving a hand. Byleth simply nodded her head, the pressure on Edelgard’s shoulder beginning to ease up as she pulled back slightly.

“Welcome then, you three.” She addressed the group, but Edelgard couldn’t help noticing that Sothis’ eyes lingered on her, as if she was expectant. “Come to me, dear. I wish to have a look at you. Is there anything I can help you with today? Would you like to get some cards signed?”

Something inside the pit of Edelgard’s stomach churned. Here she was, next to one of her idols. A woman whose creation had provided so much joy, been a light in her darkest moments, and provided a link to many of the most important people in her life. This was an opportunity that would be utterly foolish to miss. 

“Miss Lowell?”

“Yes, dear?”

Edelgard forced a confident grin. “Care for a match of Fire Emblem?”

Across the table, she could see Dimitri smile, and heard Claude and Seteth begin to chuckle behind her. Sothis merely shook her head.

“From what I’ve heard, dear, I’m shocked it took you this long to ask. Look at me, how much time do you think I have left?” She turned to Dimitri. “Sorry, son, but winner keeps their seat!” With a moan of the metal chair, Dimitri stood, stepping away from his space at the table and motioning for Edelgard to take his place. As she walked towards her spot, a sudden realization gripped her in place.

“Oh...Miss Lowell, I’m afraid I’ll need to cancel. I don’t have a-” 

“El!”

As Edelgard glanced over her shoulder, something came flying at her. Quickly, she brought her hands up and caught it. It was an old, decrepit deck box, an image of Prince Marth once emblazoned on it that had been mostly scraped away by time. The words “Starter Deck” had been reduced to “are ck”, but the purpose of the box was clear as day.

“You can use my deck.” Byleth said.

“Thank you.” She clutched the box as if it was the most valuable thing she’d ever held, and though she knew the cards inside weren’t worth more than pennies each, it very well may have been. As she took her seat at the table, her imagination whirred to life once again.

The Flame Emperor stood amongst the ruins of her palace, rubble and debris all that remained of the once ornate castle. Her army had been decimated, but as the enemy approached, a squadron of mercenaries rode to meet her. Across the battlefield, an army gathered, and at its head was a goddess.

The goddess grinned, soft light emanating from her skin. “Very well. Let us begin.”

The first thing that Edelgard noticed about playing against Sothis was that she barely seemed to read her cards. She had glanced once at her opening hand, and each time she drew a card, but for nearly the entire match she could feel the woman’s green eyes on her, passively observing every twitch in her face and tremble in her fingers.

The advancing goddess’ army was expertly trained, each unit of her loyal servants grizzled with age and marked by countless battles. They moved without delay, as if in sync with their leader’s thoughts, covering the open plain that stretched out to the palace ruins. Bolts of lightning lit up the night as rain soaked the earth, the only illumination aside from the divine being’s ethereal glow.

“I’ll push Tiki, Idunn, Morzas, and Myrrh forward this turn.” Sothis’ hand drifted across the playmat, the heel of her palm pushing her troops forward in a unified motion.

“You can’t move that many in a turn…” Byleth muttered, only for Sothis to click her tongue.

“My, dear, let me finish! I get to move four manakete units a turn because of my Lord, Naga.” She swept up the card at the back of her battlefield and held it up to Byleth. “Give it a look.”

“Oh!” Byleth blushed, an expression Edelgard found equal parts surprising and adorable. “Sorry.”

“Hmmph.” Sothis scoffed, but there was still a cheeky smile on her face. “Let me assure you, dear, I’m not a cheater. But young Seteth over there sure was!”

“What?!” The typically stoic store-owner stumbled back slightly. “Sothis, please…”

“Did you all know I made up this game to keep him and the other neighbor kids happy? Why, I daresay I was the finest babysitter on the street! And yet…” Sothis shook her head. “He used to love to try and sneak more cards on the board, or tell me to “look behind me” as he flipped a dice over…”

Even Edelgard’s concentration was broken by the sheer volume of Claude’s laughter, nearly doubled over. “Seteth? No. Impossible. You’re messing with me, Ms. Lowell, you’ve gotta be, that’s...holy shit.”

For the second time that afternoon, Seteth was grateful for Edelgard’s interruption as she revealed a card from her hand.

“At the end of your movement step, I’ll activate “Meteor”, targeting Myrrh and Morzas.”

The skies above the battlefield was ripped asunder as a mage to the Flame Emperor’s right side read from a forbidden tome, its cover worn by age and spattered with blood. From the clouds, an enormous chunk of flaming rock streaked down, on a collision course with the frontmost parts of the Goddess’ army.

“Hmph!” Sothis grinned wide, flicking a nail against the rightmost card in her hand. “A bold move, using up so much firepower so quickly. But I think you’ve underestimated me, “Flame Emperor”.” With a light pull of her fingers, Sothis revealed her card. “Feat of Resistance, targeting Myrrh and Morzas.”

As the goddess waved a hand, a swell of mystical light burst forth from the rain soaked earth below, covering her troops in an otherworldly glow. As the meteor streaked closer, the light became blinding. By the time the Emperor’s eyes recovered, she could only grimace at the continued advance of the goddess’ loyal servants, unharmed and unafraid. She tightened the grip on her axe. This was a battle that could only be won from the front lines.

The second thing Edelgard noticed about playing a match against Sothis Lowell was the incredible pace. She was no slouch herself, of course, years of experience with the game eliminating much of her hesitation. However, Sothis seemed as if she didn’t even need to think about her plays. Edelgard had barely finished passing the turn to her opponent by the time Sothis’ hands would sweep across the tabletop, sliding her cards across the table as she narrated her play aloud.

“Tiki attacks Ogma with the Divinestone, dealing twenty-two damage. Morzas will use a Flamestone on the front gate…”

Battle cries and screams of pain joined with the roars of dragons, creating a terrifying cacophony that rang within the Flame Emperor’s helm. The goddess’ soldiers had revealed their true forms, massive serpentine drakes that towered above the mercenary army. A gleaming white dragon circled the castle, breathing gouts of silver flame that wore away at the walls and ate through the armor of her troops. The remains of the palace’s front gate were quickly splintering, and through the holes she could see the skeletal body of a Dracozombie. As it loosed a guttural roar, the scent of its rank breath and sound of its fury nearly scattered her front line.

“Stand firm!” The Emperor pointed a gauntleted hand at their foe. “We take them down one by one!”

The very air seemed to vibrate as the goddess giggled. 

“Your move, dear.”

Edelgard steepled her fingers, studying the state of the cardboard battlefield that extended before her. The situation was dire. Over the past few turns, Sothis had managed to tear through her initial defenses, and her powerful manakete forces were descending upon Edelgard’s Lord, Robin. To add insult to injury, she’d barely been able to do damage to Sothis’ army. The elderly woman seemed to play with a perfect tempo strategy, deploying defensive traps and tricks every time Edelgard tried to capitalize on what looked like a tactical error. Her deck was clearly a labor of research, highly synergistic and utterly powerful.

Byleth’s deck, on the other hand, was not something that had received the same level of strenuous testing. Her units did not have much particular synergy, and many of them were mere common cards or from the earliest era of the game’s design, made outdated by years of iteration. It was as if she was facing down a tank with nothing more than a sword in her hands.

For once, Edelgard Hresvelg was the underdog.

And yet, it didn’t bother her.

For the first time in days, she felt powerful. This was what she loved, exciting battles of the mind, tactics and strategy, swords and sorcery! Her weapons may have been less powerful than her foe’s, but someone had recently taught her that was no reason to surrender. Indeed, it felt like Byleth was fighting by her side.

So how could she lose?

Edelgard rallied, meeting Sothis’ gaze with a cocky grin. “My turn, then. First off, I’ll activate Prince Marth’s special ability, “Lodestar”...”

As thunder cracked above, a young man raised his blade against the oncoming tide.

“...giving my units an additional 10 damage to their attacks if they are within three spaces of him. Next…”

Two of the mercenaries, heroes in their own right from across worlds, rushed across the stone floor of the palace atrium, undeterred by the Dracozombie’s sensory assault. As Morzas reduced the gate to splinters, a pair of young humans came to meet him.

“Oh, going on the offensive, hmm?” Sothis chuckled. “Bold of you, Miss Hresvelg.”

“I think you’ll find “bold” is pretty common with Edelgard…” Dimitri added.

A young mage raised her tome, chanting an incantation from a forgotten tongue. Blades of pure light formed in the air around her, hovering about her body in a display of saintly strength. As she extended her arm, the ethereal swords swooped forth, embedding themselves in Morzas’ rotting flesh as the Dracozombie howled with disdain. As the light faded, the blades disappeared, but glowing halos remained in the places they had torn into their target. 

“Celica’s Saintly Seraphim ability activates, doubling the effectiveness of Ailment effects.”

Prince Marth stepped forward, Falchion clenched in hand. The agile hero leapt atop a ruined plinth, finding his footing before the belly of his gargantuan foe. He plunged the sacred blade into the center of one of the wounds Celica’s spell had created, nearly toppling from his perch as the dragon thrashed indignantly.

“Prince Marth’s Falchion applies an additional 25 damage to all attacks made against a Dragon foe this turn. Due to Saintly Seraphim, that becomes an additional 50…I move to my reinforcement step…”

Despite the combined assault from two of the Flame Emperor’s finest mercenary allies, the great Dracozombie Morzas was still standing, and barely the worse for wear, especially after a healing spell from the Goddess herself. It turned its immense skull, leering at the Emperor with a hollow socket. It reared back to roar, but as it did, a distant clattering came from the depths of the castle halls. The thunder outside boomed once more, but fell silent as a different thundering clacked from within the castle walls. A knightly figure rode out, clad in violet armor atop a pearl-white warhorse, his lance angled for Morzas’ chest.

“I’ll play “Jagen, Veteran Knight.””

Over Sothis’ shoulder, Edelgard watched as a grin unfurled on Byleth’s face.

“Jagen uses his first action to attack Morzas with a Silver Lance, dealing 25 damage. But, thanks to Falchion’s effect, that’s 50, although that bonus is doubled by Seraphim, making this hit deal...75 damage.”

“In a single blow?” Seteth’s eyes widened. “Oh my.”

“Oh! Actually…” Edelgard tapped a nail on Marth’s card. “Lodestar is in effect. That’s 85 points of damage.”

A shocked silence fell over the basement. The game’s onlookers were wide-eyed as Sothis bent slightly over the table, rereading a few cards for the first time during their match. After a few moments, she rose once more, letting out a slight sigh as she peeled Morzas off the table and deposited him in her discard pile.

“You’ve destroyed my Dracozombie in a single turn. That was...very impressive.”

Edelgard replied with a curt nod. “Thank you. It’s your turn.”

“Excellent.” Sothis grinned. “Beginning of turn, activate Naga’s Blessing ability to reduce the Stamina cost of cards from my hand by one, then Myrrh’s Last Hope to permit me to reuse a card costing less than 3 Stamina to my hand this turn. Activate Tiki’s Divine Princess ability, allowing me to copy Last Hope, and now I’ll use Divine Dragon’s Breath from my hand to deal 20 damage to all units within Tiki’s range. Since it now costs 3 Stamina, I’ll return it to my hand and do it again, then do that one more time. 60 to your entire board, thanks to Tiki’s flying status.”

Edelgard blinked, looking down at her assembled troops.

“That...that will resolve.” 

The Emperor looked up, looming defeat crashing down in the form of a torrent of silvery dragonfire.

“You win.”

“Well played, Edelgard.” Sothis smiled as she began to scoop her cards up. “I can tell you have a passion for the game. That combo turn was certainly something to behold!”

“Honestly, I can’t take all the credit.” Edelgard smiled across the table. “Someone very important taught me part of that trick.”

A few minutes later, the Nabatea basement had settled down from the excitement of its clash of titans. Flayn came jogging down the stairs, a can in her hand fresh from the vending machine upstairs.

“Here you are, Ms. Lowell!”

“My, thank you, dear.” Sothis took the iced tea from Flayn’s hand and sipped it, the team leaders and Byleth watching as Seteth raised an eyebrow.

“That costs a dollar, you know.”

Sothis affixed him with a withering stare. “You’re the one who invited me here! Show a little hospitality.”

“If I recall, my proposal is what interested you…” With a great sigh, Seteth looked up, splaying his hands on the table before his guests. “I suppose the time has come to make proper introductions. Miss Lowell was an acquaintance of mine during my youth.”

“Babysitter.” Sothis’ steely gaze continued its assault on Seteth, who was looking more miserable by the moment. “I was Seteth’s babysitter. It was a wealthy neighborhood, you see, and the parents were often gone on business. So I was in charge of little Seteth while they were away…” She tried to reach out a hand and muss Seteth’s hair, which was quickly deflected with the shopkeeper's palm. “As well as little Rhea, you know!”

“The Chairwoman?” Dimitri widened his eyes. “I wasn’t even aware Seteth knew her.”

“I used to work at GMU, on Rhea’s invitation.” There was an odd somberness to Seteth’s voice. “It’s where I met my wife. But after she passed away, I...couldn’t anymore. So I opened the shop.”

“I see…” Dimitri shook his head. “I apologize for so brusquely bringing up the subject.”

“It’s alright. I know the past few weeks have been difficult for...many of us.” As Seteth concluded, Edelgard could feel everyone’s attention shifting to her. She straightened in her seat, still saying nothing.

“Edelgard, I must extend my deepest condolences for what happened to your father.” Sothis’ voice dropped its teasing tone, suddenly sounding much more reverent and serene. “Seteth gave me the news while I was on my way to Fodlan to meet you.”

“Thank you, ma’am, but...meet me?” She turned her gaze to Seteth. “What for?” 

“I happen to know that you are very passionate about the game, Edelgard. Have you ever heard of EmblemCast?”

Indeed, she had. EmblemCast was a podcast often hosted on the Emblem Games website, usually featuring interviews between Sothis and any number of guests. Championship winners, card designers, celebrities that enjoyed the game…

“Wait.” Edelgard could feel her jaw nearly fall open. “You don’t mean that…”

“Edelgard, I’ve decided.” Sothis folded her hands with her elbows on the table, resting her chin atop them as she grinned across. “I want someone who loves Fire Emblem to talk about it with me, and you seem like a wonderful choice. Will you be my guest on EmblemCast next week?”

Though the Flame Emperor had already once been defeated, she rose once more in an attempt to protect Edelgard’s dignity from the urge to celebrate wildly at the request. Unfortunately, the Emperor’s efforts weren’t entirely successful.

“That...that would be…”

As Edelgard struggled between her urge to stay cool before her idol and her urge to jump for joy, she caught sight of Claude leaning back in his seat, eyebrow cocked as if he were cooking up another scheme.

“Edelgard, this is an amazing offer!” Dimitri’s meaty hand clapped down on her shoulder, lightly shaking her like he was trying to pull her out of shock.

Sothis smiled as she continued. “We won’t need to fly you anywhere, I can record the cast anywhere with acceptable acoustics. I brought my equipment with me on the trip down.”

Edelgard swallowed, shaking the shock away. Before she could answer Sothis, someone else did.

“Excuse me, Miss Lowell?” 

Claude’s chair creaked as he leaned back, spreading his arms wide. “I’m afraid there’s something I need to clarify with my client before she accepts any offers.” Even in such a precarious position, the grin on his face was beaming, and the head of the Golden Deer seemed to be the only one in the room who could retain his composure.

“Riegan…” Seteth half-sighed, half-hissed. Dimitri couldn’t contain his laughter as Claude stood and motioned for Edelgard to follow him as he stepped towards the rear of the room. Mere days ago, she would have utterly ignored his antics, but given how unexpectedly helpful Claude had been so far…

Somewhat begrudgingly, Edelgard stood, looking sheepishly at Sothis. “I’ll be just a moment.” She strode to the back wall of the basement, facing down Claude with a tilt of her head.

“Edelgard, hear me out here.” Claude’s voice came as a whisper. “This is a little sudden, I know, but...I think this is your chance.”

When it hit her, she gasped. “Are you serious?” Something in the depth of her throat went dry as the circumstances of reality came flooding back.

Claude’s hand went up as he began to count on his fingers. “Massive, near instant reach. Social media impact. Too far away for your “uncle” to fuck with. And if he wants to, he’s tangling with _her_. He surreptitiously jabbed a thumb in Sothis’ direction.

Edelgard sighed, her face set in a grimace as she mulled her options over. The risk was heavy, but the reward was tempting. 

“I’m not gonna pressure you into it if it’s not what you want to do. This is your story, Edelgard.” Claude sighed, pressing a hand into his hair. “I just...I hate what they’re doing. I hate what they did to Lysithea, and to you. And this is worth a shot, isn’t it?”

As Edelgard returned to the table, Claude directly behind her, she extended a hand across it.

“Miss Lowell, I would be honored to accept your offer. Though I must ask...will our topics be limited to only Fire Emblem?”

Seteth raised his eyebrows as his former babysitter chuckled. “Well, dear, that is the subject of the show. But if you were to, say, go on a little bit of a tangent…”

She winked.

“I suppose I could indulge something like that.”

The spacious brick and marble townhouse on Fodlan’s northern edge was a remnant of a bygone era, when it had formerly been a city hall. When the current civics building was erected and the lot hit the market, it was swept up by local wealthy family the Blaiddyds and turned into their estate. Decades later, though the newly named “Blaiddyd Manor” no longer housed an enormous family or political delegation, its open spaces and soundproofed walls remained.

After Edelgard had agreed to the interview, Dimitri had suggested the home as a spot for recording the Emblemcast. After all, they couldn’t take up Nabatea’s basement forever, despite Seteth’s hospitality. Mere hours later, they were ready to begin.

“Alright, everything should be set up here. If you need anything, we’ll be right outside.” The sole remaining Blaiddyd heir had graciously offered his aid, and as he stood in the doorway to his home’s ballroom, Edelgard couldn’t help but feel she had misjudged Dimitri. True, he was often the type to ask too many questions, and his boundless energy could be...aggravating, but he had always been a positive presence. She’d have to thank him later. As Dimitri exited, Sothis cleared her throat.

The podcast setup was simple. She and Sothis sat on chairs that faced one another in the center of the room. Each of them had a microphone clipped to their lapels, wirelessly connected to a small black box with a flashing red light. Clearly, despite her age, Sothis was well versed in modern technology.

“Are you ready, Edelgard?” she asked. Edelgard nodded, and Sothis’ hand went up, five fingers in the air.

“We’ll start in five...four...three…”

Before Sothis could tuck her index finger down, the door to the room flew open. Byleth stumbled inside, a frosted pretzel Edelgard recognized as one of Dedue’s creations extending from her mouth.

“Goob muck, El!” she called, spattering crumbs onto the marble floor. Out of the corner of her vision, Edelgard thought she saw Sothis roll her eyes at the display.

“Honestly…” Sothis muttered. She began the countdown once more, moving a little faster this time.

“Five...four...three...two…” She went silent as the count concluded, mouthing the “one” before flicking a switch on the control panel to the right of her seat.

“Rulers and warriors from across the lands…” The introduction to Emblemcast had been the same since its first ever episode, and Edelgard found herself mouthing the words as Sothis spoke. “Be you hero or villain, wise or brave, king, queen, or anything in between, I bid you welcome to this sacred place. My name is Sothis, and this is the Emblemcast.”

Edelgard exhaled, her heart pounding against her chest. This was a dream for her, but phantoms lurked at the edges of her mind, threatening to poison the experience. Even here, in the safety of the Blaiddyd ballroom, Arundel’s shade felt as if it stretched across the room, originating from her own very chair.

“On this episode, we have a very special guest.” Sothis looked at Edelgard now, her mouth curled in a smirk. “We’ve spoken with many of the game’s most influential figures, but today we have the pleasure of meeting someone who simply loves the game. Will you please introduce yourself?”

“Certainly.” Edelgard slipped into the tone and cadence of her lectures. “I am...the Flame Emperor. It’s an honor to be here.”

Despite Sothis’ raised eyebrow, Edelgard didn’t say any more. If she was going to go through with exposing Agartha, she wasn’t yet prepared to give her name. That attention felt terrifying, too much for even her, so she slipped on the mask once more.

“It’s wonderful to have you on the show, Flame Emperor.” If Sothis had any hangups about using the pseudonym, they certainly didn’t affect her performance. The creator’s voice was as calm and welcoming as it had ever been, softly droning out from her car radio or an MP3 player sat next to her desk. “Why don’t we start with a simple question. Who’s your favorite Fire Emblem Lord, and why does it sound like it’s Arvis?”

“Well, when I started the game, he was actually among the first cards I played with, back when my father taught me the game.” It struck Edelgard for a moment that this was the first time since the incident she’d been able to mention Ionius without her breath hitching, but she found no time to dwell on it. “So there was an early attachment there. And of course, he’s uniquely positioned among typical Fire-based magical units when it comes to controlling the board state. I suppose that one could make a case for Julius or Athos in that department, but I think that’s due to a trap many novice players fall into…”

Though she had never been interviewed before, Edelgard found the experience quite natural. Perhaps it was due to Sothis’ well-practiced guidance, but she’d always been excellent when it came to speaking and arguing. The questions were simple to answer, but she found herself able to expand upon her initial responses quite easily.

“How do you feel about the latest Championship results?”

“Frankly, I’m disappointed at how weak Swords feel in our current play environment. The weapon triangle is an essential aspect of gameplay, and the amount of units printed nowadays that skirt it entirely are, in my opinion, a mistake. One only needs to look at both Finals decks running mostly Axe based lists to see that.”

It was calming, in a way, despite the pressure of what was essentially a performance.

“Which cards from Crossroads have you been most impressed or unimpressed with so far?”

“Gharnef has been working overtime to return Magic based teams to relevance since they took that hit when Constitution was removed from the rules, and I think there are a few reasons for that...”

Despite everything that had happened, this was home.

The time went by quicker than Edelgard had expected, and she was shocked when Sothis glanced at her watch and said a set of familiar words.

“I am afraid that time grows short. Soon, we must all return to our realms, and I must slumber once more.” She glanced at Edelgard, smiling. “But, before we complete our show today, I’d like to conclude by asking our esteemed guest one final question. Flame Emperor?”

“Yes?”

“What made you fall in love with Fire Emblem?”

“Well. Quite a question.”

It wasn’t one she hadn’t expected. For as long as she could remember, this was the way Sothis had concluded the Emblemcast. It was also the moment she had been waiting for. She motioned to the door, beginning to speak as soon as Dimitri had cracked it open.

“Like everyone, I imagine, I’ve run into struggles in my life. We all encounter things that are terrible, cruel, and horrific, because that is the nature of the world we live in. What matters is that we strive to change them, but we cannot always do so alone. We require the help of others to brighten the future.”

Edelgard breathed in deeply, her hands balled unconsciously into fists.

“I love Fire Emblem because it helped me to connect with others. My father and I bonded over learning the game. I met many of my friends going out to the local store to play the game, and our relationships expanded even outside of it.”

Her eyes moved to the door, trying to peer through the glass window pane set inside of it with a smile.

“I met an amazing woman who helped me learn that I can be strong. Not only in a fantasy card game, but in my everyday life. And it is with that strength that I tell you this.”

She could have sworn she saw a smirk on Sothis’ face.

“When I was a child, I was diagnosed with a rare and potentially fatal disease. I was placed into the care of Agartha Chemical, and lived in one of their labs for a year.”

_flushed fluorescent spotlights and chrome-tinted ceilings_

“In that time, I was made a subject of countless illegal experiments, made to test unapproved drugs, and verbally abused by their staff.”

_blue pill. gray table. brown rats._

“They used a young girl to test their vile creations, with no regard for safety, ethics, or proper scientific procedure. To this day, I bear the marks of their cruelty, from my discolored hair to terrifying nightmares that plague my sleep.”

_ brown rats. brown rats. _

_purple eyes. A black hoodie. A warm smile._

“And I know that I am not the only one. I ask you now, as the wonderful community that this game has built, to stand with me.” 

_a worn out teddy-bear. a set of walkie-talkies. a meal shared at a rickety kitchen table. warm arms wrapped around her._

“Help me bring down the cruel institution that has caused such terror. No child should ever have to suffer at the hands of Agartha again.”

Sothis’ eyes were wide, but there was a calmness radiating from the way she frowned, slight and nearly imperceptible.

“Well, Flame Emperor. I am sorry-”

“Wait.”

_Claude. Dimitri. The Black Eagles. Ionius. Byleth._

It felt wrong to do this as anyone but herself.

“I’m sorry. Let me be entirely clear. My name is Edelgard Hresvelg, and the man who directed my abuse was Volkhard Arundel.”

Every nerve in Edelgard’s body felt like it was on fire as she sank back into her chair, unaware that she had been leaning forward in the first place. She was at once exhausted and innervated, the room dissolving together as the grays and browns of the ceiling and floor collided and robbed her of any sense of direction. Only the gentle sound of Sothis’ voice remained clear, ringing in her ears as if it came from inside of her head.

“Well then, Edelgard. I am sorry you have been through such a horrifying circumstance, but I am extremely pleased that you’ve found a home with some wonderful friends. And with that, I must conclude the program. Thank you all for listening to another episode of the Emblemcast. Fight bravely, heroes.”

Sothis leaned to her right and flicked a switch on the box that rested against her chair, dimming the red light until it was gone.

When the recording concluded, the gathered guests assembled in the Blaiddyd Manor’s dining room. Dimitri had prepared a simple dinner for everyone, but it went mostly ignored.

“Judging by the way none of you are gawking in shock...I gather that I was the only one unaware of Miss Hresvelg’s story?”

Sothis surveyed the table from her position at the head, glaring at the assembled crowd of four. Dimitri and Claude sat to her left, with Edelgard and Byleth left on the right, all of them looking rather sheepish about the affair.

“I don’t mean to put you in a difficult position, Miss Lowell.” Edelgard sighed. “Perhaps I overstepped my bounds.”

The old woman scoffed. “Nonsense. I invited you on my show because I found you interesting, dear. If I were to tell you to hide that, I would find myself to be quite a terrible host. Fear not, your words will make it onto the show. All of them.”

“Thank you.” Byleth was beaming, wrapping an arm around Edelgard’s shoulder. She did her best not to blush, nor to spit up the bite of mashed potatoes still in her mouth.

“Of course, it helped that I had a feeling you had something to say…” With a slight smile, Sothis began to swirl her wine glass conspiratorially. Claude quickly rolled his eyes.

“Don’t look at me. Just because I came up with a plan doesn’t mean I’m spilling it to everyone.”

“Oh, no.” Sothis dabbed a bit of liquid away from her lips. “You were beat, dear. A certain shopkeep may have told me you had something to say that you could have used a platform for, Edelgard. Not that he told me what it was…”

Dimitri’s eyes turned as wide as the plate before him as Claude began to cough, his sip of wine evidently having caught halfway down his throat. 

“You’ve got to be kidding me. Old Man Seteth? He came up with this?”

Sothis chuckled. “What can I say, dear? He’s trickier than he looks. Always has been.”

“Regardless, I cannot thank you enough, Miss Lowell.” Edelgard reached a hand across the table, a look of contentment on her face. “This is the beginning of something important.”

“I believe so too, Edelgard.” The table fell silent as Sothis began to speak once more. “But it will not be a simple thing. You face something much larger than yourself. Is that something you believe you can shoulder alone?”

The question that had plagued Edelgard’s mind for years was extended once more, but she was finally able to smile in the face of it. She gently extended an arm and wrapped it around Byleth’s side, a warm grin forming as she looked back at Sothis.

“No. But I’m not alone.”

Sothis returned the expression. “I was hoping you’d say that.”

When the evening concluded, Sothis returned to her hotel after a few parting words. Claude announced his intent to tell Lysithea about what had happened, and Dimitri extended an offer to Edelgard and Byleth.

“It’s only Dedue and I here on most evenings, and he’s away visiting family. There’s certainly a room open for the both of you if you’d like to stay the night. I know it’s quite late, and it’s quite a drive back to Garreg Mach.”

Edelgard coughed. “That sounds lovely, but...do you mean two rooms, Dimitri?”

In a rare sight, the confident captain of the Lions slowly began to turn beet red. “Oh! Of course, that...that is what I intended! I apologize, I certainly didn’t mean to imply anything with my wording that may seem inappropriate!”

He gave Byleth a frantically apologetic look, but she could only respond with her typical stone-faced smile.

“One is fine. I can sleep on the ground.”

Before either of the others could object, she was marching down the hallway towards the nearest spare room, leaving both Dimitri and Edelgard slackjawed in her wake.

After Byleth had closed a door behind her, Dimitri looked at Edelgard with wide eyes. “Is she messing with us? Or is she just…Byleth?”

Edelgard sighed. “I firmly believe that she is just...Byleth.”

Later that evening, when night had fallen over the city of Fodlan, Edelgard found herself lying on an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar place, a situation she had strenuously struggled to avoid for the past decade. Perhaps it was the events of the day that gave her the courage, adrenaline still coursing through her veins after her confession on Emblemcast. More likely, though, it was due to the woman a few feet to her left, and a few more feet down.

“You can share the bed with me, Byleth.” Edelgard couldn’t help but laugh. “I don’t mind, I promise.”

“Mmmngh.” 

She was left to assume that the sleepy grunt was a counter-argument. As Edelgard folded the covers over herself once more, Byleth murmured once again.

“Really...proud of you...El.”

That red-hot blush returned, staining her cheeks as she peered over the edge of the mattress to see Byleth spread eagle on the floor, her hair radiating out in every direction as she gave Edelgard a sleepy smile.

“Thank you. You...you’ve really changed my life, Byleth. You made me strong.”

Byleth shook her head lazily. “Mmmno. Always strong. Hope I...helped you see it.”

“Regardless, I couldn’t have done it without you. Thank you for everything.”

“So...that amazing woman you talked about…” One of Byleth’s eyes popped open. “Was that me?”

“Of course.” Edelgard beamed down. “You truly are a remarkable woman, Byleth Eisner.”

“Thank you.” With a great shudder, Byleth flopped over, her head lazily impacting a pillow she had haphazardly tossed on the ground. “G’night.”

“Goodnight, Byleth.”

In the dark silence, for once, the shadows did not seem threatening. There was a clarity to Edelgard’s thoughts that was equal parts illuminating and terrifying. There was no going back from what she had begun now. Fear could never be allowed to take control of her again, so she decided to slip loose of its last hold.

“Byleth?”

Silence.

“I love you.”

A tense second dragged its way through the room.

Then another.

Time seemed to slow as Edelgard’s heart thumped in her chest, percussively counting out the agonizing moments of waiting.

“Snnnrrrrggghhh.”

As Byleth began to snore, Edelgard felt a wave of relief wash over her, only slightly impeded by the dejection of a confession mere moments too late.

Perhaps, this too, would take time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, everyone. I understand this is a very tumultuous time for many of us, and I hope that this chapter finds you well, and hopefully brings a little joy to your day during a time when joy can be hard to find.
> 
> We are nearing completion of the story, there's just a planned epilogue/final chapter left now. I'd like to take a moment and say thank you to everyone who's read the story, talked to me about it, suggested ideas, proofread, the works. I'm so lucky to have people who care about it ❤️.
> 
> Super Secret Author's Notes:  
\- The theme of Sothis' team is people who can turn into dragons. Because...well...you get it.  
\- Claude is a little jealous he never got to challenge Sothis himself.  
\- Sothis loves telling Flayn embarrassing stories about her father. Seteth is slightly regretting ever inviting her.  
\- Dedue made those pretzel sticks like a week ago and Dimitri was going to throw them out, but Byleth Hongry.
> 
> It's honestly rather surreal to be saying this, but next time will be the final chapter of Luck of the Draw! I had originally intended to time it so the chapter would come out the day before I left for Magicfest Louisville but, uh, Magicfest Louisville is not happening! I'm big sad, but also big glad that they're taking the proper precautions!
> 
> Please leave any feedback you'd like below! I adore getting comments, and I'll do my best to reply. Thanks so much for reading, and I will see you again! For the finale...


	21. Match

One Month Later

Pharamaceutical Leader or MONSTER? You Won’t Believe What This Man Did!!!!

A Gatekeeper Online EXCLUSIVE!

November 14th

Shocking allegations have recently surfaced connecting Agartha Chemical CEO Volkhard Arundel to alleged unlawful experiments on children. On Monday, November 11th, the newest episode of playing-card podcast “Emblemcast” contained a surprising bit of information.

The show’s guest, one “Edelgard Hresvelg”, the daughter of recently deceased businessman Ionius Hresvelg, accused Arundel of conducting illegal experiments that trampled upon the rights of their subjects, many of whom were children.

WIthin moments of the episode’s premier, a Chatter account called “SableAU” posted a link to the podcast with this text:

“Repost it, y’all! Spread this like WILDFIRE!

#AgarthaChem, the gummy guys? They’re AWFUL, listen to the last two minutes!”

Within 24 hours, “#AgarthaChem” became one of the day’s Top 10 most highly discussed subjects on Chatter. Minor protests were held outside the company’s headquarters, and Agartha’s press department released this statement:

“We apologize for any confusion, and would like to extend our deepest assurances that these troubling allegations have NO truth behind them.”

Regardless of their assurances, the social media wildfire continues for Agartha, and rumors abound that an official investigation by law enforcement is pending. Arundel could not be reached for comment on this article.

Kickin’ Arundel’s Dumb Ass Club  
(You are an Admin)  
Six Members

[TheDeerPrince]: hey did y’all see that article this morning?!?!

[TheDeerPrince]: we’re VIRAL now

[BlueLionBoi]: Excellent news!

[Ediecakes]: The Gatekeeper is little more than a gossip rag. I don’t think many will put stock in their report.

[ShortNSweets]: but it is a start. Soon more reputable outlets will pick up the story, and the more pressure we mount, the better.

[StrongSilentType]: be positive el :)

[StrongSilentType]: it’s something

[TheDeerPrince]: ur still trending out there

[TheDeerPrince]: almost all of it’s support

[Ediecakes]: I’ll take it. Thank you, everyone. Though I must say...

[Ediecakes]: ...I detest these names.

[ShortNSweets]: claude change the names

[TheDeerPrince]: mais non

[BlueLionBoi]: I think they’re funny! Ignore Edelgard and Lysithea, they are career party poopers!

[Ediecakes]: Your sense of humor is as ragged as your haircut.

[ShortNSweets}: i’ll wallop you

[TheDeerPrince]: wallop his kneecaps lmao

[OldManSeteth]: I Am Happy To See The Article Was Posted. I Think We Are Making Important Stripes!

[OldManSeteth]: Autocorrect

[TheDeerPrince]: Stripes

[ShortNSweet]: Stripes

[TheDeerPrince]: Stripes

[OldManSeteth]: Change The Names Claude

Thursdays were special for Edelgard. Over the past month, nearly every aspect of her life had changed, but that was one thing that remained the same. 

Her return to teaching had been met with a rather clearly mixed reaction from her students. The first day she’d walked in the room, a pair of troublesome freshmen near the back of the class seemed to quickly lose all the color in their faces. Though she was not permitted to ask Rhea the names of those who had made the falsified claims against her, it wasn’t exactly difficult to infer some of the contents of that list.

For her own part, she continued as if nothing had happened. A professional certainly wouldn’t be expected to dwell on such things. However, loosening up was but one of the many lessons she had recently learned, and so Edelgard couldn’t help occasionally basking in the way they seemed far less likely to talk during her lectures now.

On her way out of the building, she certainly got more looks than usual. While she was far from a celebrity by any stretch, the allegations against Agartha had reached the general public consciousness, and Garreg Mach’s campus was no refuge. Thankfully, the attention seemed mostly confined to stares and excess courtesies, things like doors held open a tad too long or wide berths she was given on the sidewalks.

“Well, what are they gonna say, Edie?” Dorothea had scoffed one night over dinner. “Hey there, nice to meet you, so sorry about the year of torture in a creepy science lab, real bummer?”

Edelgard’s friends (a word that still felt a tad foreign on her tongue, but comforting) had responded to the situation with generally greater tact. Dorothea was the first to approach her about it, bursting into Edelgard’s temporary bedroom and immediately throwing her arms wide.

“May I?”, she had asked. As soon as Edelgard had nodded, she was nearly tackled by the full force of a 170 cm theater major, the sheer power of the hug enough to propel her backwards onto the bed. The tearful conversation that followed felt long overdue, as Edelgard finally told the full story of her experiences at Agartha to her best friend. 

“You could have told me!” Dorothea wiped some streaky mascara away from her cheek. “But...I get it. I do. God, Edie, this is...it’s so much.”

“And I couldn’t have made it through without you.”

The second hug utterly eclipsed the first.

The rest of the Black Eagles sent their own forms of support, each of them visiting at least once in the weeks after Emblemcast had gone live. Ferdinand and Petra were among the most frequent visitors, often joining the residents of Dorothea’s quickly filling apartment for dinner or games in the evenings. Caspar had managed to, through many nights of alcohol-fueled search trawling, rack up the home-video editions of the short-lived “Fire Emblem” anime adaptation in multiple languages, which he proudly delivered to Edelgard, along with a VHS player just in case. Even Linhardt, who Edelgard had honestly assumed despised her, paid her a visit, a box of teabags under his arm.

“Dorothea mentioned to me that...what happened makes it hard for you to sleep. These are my favorite, the aroma is a soothing one. Should knock you out pretty quickly, if you need it.”

Just as comforting as any of them, though, was Hubert. His cage had become a fixture on Bernadetta’s nightstand, and while Edelgard was still uncomfortable crying in front of any humans, an African Gray Parrot somehow felt less intimidating. His noisy chatter cheered her up in the mornings, and his frequent squawks of “Lady Edelgard! Lady Edelgard” sometimes made it feel as if her father was watching over her. And while she hadn’t had any bizarre dreams featuring a lanky man with a sinister smile since the first, she still couldn’t help but smile each time she remembered the extra birdseed.

There was one person, however, who hadn’t changed their behavior towards Edelgard at all after the news. She was waiting on a bench outside of the science building, waving cheerfully as Edelgard approached.

“El!”

Byleth stood and stretched, her full height towering over Edelgard as she was once again reminded of the sheer…_state_ of Byleth’s musculature thanks to a rather tightly fitted shirt. 

“Lovely to see you, Byleth.” Edelgard greeted, brushing a bit of hair away from her eyes. “Shall we be off for lunch?”

The surface of the campus lake glistened in the midday sun. Even as winter’s coming chill seemed to approach Fodlan, the weather was, for now, still accommodating to a picnic. That wasn’t exactly what this was, though, at least as far as Edelgard was aware. The “picnics” in movies always involved red and white checkered blankets spread on the top of a hill, with spreads of various ingredients decorating a pristine scene.

Sitting on a bench with a plastic bag full of a sandwich she’d quickly thrown together was...close enough. As she watched Byleth joyfully rip apart the plastic wrap on an unidentified hunk of meat, she couldn’t bring herself to care for the difference.

“It’s real food.”

Byleth’s voice broke the silence of the meal as Edelgard followed her finger to the sandwich bag.

“Oh! Yes, it is.”

“I’m glad you’re eating better, El.”

Byleth smiled, and Edelgard’s heart nearly melted on the spot. Unfortunately, the other woman evidently hadn’t heard her confession on the night of the podcast. And, try as Edelgard might, she hadn’t found another good opportunity to broach the subject since.

“Why, thank you.” With a mischeivous grin, Edelgard tapped the bench between them. “We wouldn’t want another unscheduled nap on this, would we?”

Byleth chuckled, and Edelgard found a surge of confidence in the depths of her stomach. Surely, here in one of their first meeting spots, under the light of the shimmering sun and next to a sparkling lake, was the perfect place.

“Byleth, I need to tell you-”

“Oh!” Byleth’s eyes widened. “Sorry. Need to ask. Are you coming to Nabatea tonight?”

Wincing as the moment drifted away again, Edelgard shook her head. “I don’t think so. I don’t have my deck, and as much as I’d love to see everyone…”

“You can borrow mine.” Byleth quickly cut in. “I don’t need to play.”

“Nonsense.” Edelgard shook her head. “You should have fun.”

The conversation evidently concluded, they both returned to their meals.

[byleth]: she said no

[Dorothea]: : / : / : /

[Dorothea]: Dammit edie

[Dorothea]: Tell her the team needs the points.

“The Eagles need the points.”

Edelgard quirked an eyebrow as she chewed her sandwich, looking at Byleth with a tinge of confusion. “Trust me,” she began, after swallowing, “I’m as upset as anyone that the Lions have taken yet another season. But you are an exceptionally skilled player. The team is in excellent hands with you there.”

Byleth nodded, but Edelgard could see the slight hint of dejection on her face as she quickly looked down at her phone. That simply wouldn’t do.

“Would you like me to go with you, Byleth?” 

More animated than she typically ever was, Byleth’s gaze whipped back in Edelgard’s direction as she nodded fervently. “Yes. Yes, I’d like that very much!”

“Excellent. Then I will.” Edelgard smiled. “It’s a...promise.”

For the second time this afternoon, she wished she had a little more courage as the conversation shifted gears, leaving those three crucial words at bay once more.

Edelgard couldn’t make it to Nabatea early, as she typically preferred. Her meeting with Professor Hanneman went longer than usual, as she had to thank him for assisting her in finding a substitute for her classes. She also found herself the surprise recipient of a lengthy interrogation by Dr. Casagrande, who found the Agartha experiments the stuff of medical nightmares and at one point had to storm out of the room to smoke and calm down. This had prompted an angry lecture from Hanneman, and she’d had to excuse herself in the midst of their endless bickering.

Thankfully, there was still a bus she could catch, and so Edelgard found herself once more stepping across the threshold of that oasis in her life, Nabatea. The jingling of the overhead bells announced her arrival and reminded her of simpler times, walking into the store on her first day at Garreg Mach.

“Welcome back, Edelgard.”

Despite her month away, the store hadn’t changed. The same stale air blew through a rickety fan, familiar stocks of board games and playing cards littered the sales racks and speckled the walls, and behind the counter, as always, was Seteth. He smiled as she entered, inclining his head towards the basement.

“I believe that they are waiting for you.”

She nodded, returning the shopkeeper’s grin. As her eyes fell once more on the blue banner that hung above the cash register, she couldn’t help but smile. 

Second time was the charm.

As she descended the stairs, Edelgard found herself quickly headed off by Byleth, who was rushing to meet her. There was a smile on her face the likes of which Edelgard had never seen Byleth wear before, a full fledged grin that was unusual of the typically stoic woman. Still, it fit her.

“El, you made it!” Byleth wrapped her arms around Edelgard, thankfully restricting the force of her hug for the staircase. As she pulled away, she wrapped her hands around one of Edelgard’s, nearly dragging her down the steps as she went. “Come on, everyone’s waiting for you!”

“Byleth, calm down!” Though she was descending at an alarming rate, Edelgard trusted in Byleth’s steps...mostly. “I don’t even know what’s going on here! I...I still need to pay Seteth the tournament entry fee!”

As she finally stepped onto the concrete of Nabatea’s basement floor, all other thoughts were quickly banished from Edelgard’s mind. The usual crowd, it seemed, had all gathered. The Black Eagles sat among the front tables, with a beaming Dorothea at their center. Dimitri and his Lions, evidently having added Mercedes to their ranks, waited further back. The towering heights of both their leader and Dedue nearly completely obscured Lysithea as she sat among Claude and the rest of the Deer in the back of the room.

None of that was particularly strange. What was odd was the way they were all looking at her as she came down the stairs.

With a call of “Surprise, Edie!”, Dorothea leapt from her seat and spread her arms. “Welcome to your Welcome Back Celebration!”

Ever-energetic, Caspar nearly immediately began clapping and cheering, slowly leading the rest of the room to join in, with varying degrees of intensity. Byleth still stood before Edelgard, clutching one of her hands, but the smile on her face spoke volumes. 

“Everyone, this is…” Edelgard stammered, taking a few steps forward. “Thank you very much, but it’s…” The poise and confidence she so often drew on came up empty, the Flame Emperor’s armor seemingly refusing to come on at all. “I…”

“We all know about what happened now, Edelgard.” Mercedes stood, smiling gently across the room. “So we wanted to do something to help you out.” Lysithea came forward, a small box in her hands. Edelgard recognized it immediately, the red satin and embroidered eagle emblem unmistakable.

“Oh, my deck box!” She’d thought it lost, but Byleth must have gathered it up. “Thank you for returning it.” As she took it from Lysithea’s grip, she noticed the telltale heft of cards inside. Curious, Edelgard cracked it open and peered in. An eclectic collection of cards waited within, all ones she’d owned before, but…

“We couldn’t get the originals back.” Claude sighed to himself. “Trust me, I tried. So we did the next best thing. We all raided our boxes and put together a bit of a gift for you. Just stuff to try and make up for your collection getting stolen.”

Each card inside was affixed with a tiny post-it note on the outside of the sleeve, a name written on them. She recognized Linhardt’s careful handwriting on the first, a scuffed copy of “Navarre, Scarlet Swordsman”. The next was an “Ike, Radiant Hero” from Raphael, followed by a foil “Seliph, Heir of Light” that was evidently from Dedue.

The sound of Petra’s chuckling filled the room. “It was not hard to be remembering lots of the cards you had. You’ve certainly beaten most of us enough of times to recall!”

“I’m sure it’s, like, not even a tenth of what you used to have.” Hilda interjected. “But it’s a start, right? Maybe enough to get you back and playing again?”

As she continued to flip through the cards in the box, memories of matches at Nabatea flooded back. She’d played game after game with so many of these people, spent evenings enjoying the company and escaping the shadows that so often seemed to hang over her. There was a sense of camaraderie there, even if she’d tried so desperately to avoid much of it. Edelgard looked up, regarding her assembled friends with a smile that tried to hide the tears in her eyes. Before she could speak, Dorothea raised a finger to her lips.

“Now then, dear Edie, before you say anything else, there’s one more present for you…” She looked over her shoulder, frowning. “Just as soon as it’s ready. Bernie?”

From behind one of the concrete pillars near the rear of the room, Edelgard caught the faint sight of purple hair and the sound of a squeak. 

“I’ll come and get it from you if you want. You don’t have to-” 

Dorothea’s offer was interrupted by a diminutive figure stepping out from her hiding place. Bernadetta walked to the front of the room at a pace distinctly faster than was typical, her eyes locked on Edelgard as she tried to ignore much of the assembled crowd.

“H-here you go. From me. And the Eagles.”

She presented Edelgard with one final card. The name line read as familiar as always, “Arvis, Emperor of Flame”. The art, however, was something new entirely. It seemed that the original Arvis art had been painted over with careful brushstrokes, illustrating a different scene. The familiar sight of a burning castle was the same, but instead of Arvis, there stood a young woman with white hair that whipped about her in the wind. Her armor was the same crimson color of Edelgard’s deckbox, and she pointed an axe at the horizon, a look of hopeful determination on her face.

“Oh my…”

Bernadetta tapped the bottom of the card’s rules box with her fingertip, pointing out a tiny signature in silver ink.

“To a new dawn: Sothis Lowell”

Emotions surged as Edelgard gently took the altered Arvis in her hands. For all the time she’d spent collecting Fire Emblem cards, she had never felt so strongly about one before. “Thank you...I don’t know how to thank you all for this kindness.”

Bernadetta smiled faintly, then retreated, this time taking a seat at the Black Eagles table beside Dorothea, who embraced her. 

“Everyone, this is...this is amazing. I am honored that you would do me such a kind favor. Thank you.” Edelgard could feel the weight of the deckbox in her hands, and an urge to compete surged once more. However, there was one important task that could not be put off any longer. “I would love to show my appreciation by playing with this wonderful replacement deck you’ve all constructed for me. But first…I...need to speak to Byleth in private.”

Byleth blinked in surprise, thankfully blissfully unaware of the reactions behind her. She didn’t see Dorothea’s exaggerated wink, nor Sylvain’s mock kissy face, nor the massive grin on Dimitri. This was absolutely fine with Edelgard, who quickly pulled the both of them up the stairs, past a very confused Seteth, and into a deserted corner next to a mall fountain.

“El?” Byleth’s eyes were wide. “What is this about?”

Edelgard sighed, summoning the last embers of courage that sparked in the depth of her gut. “Byleth, I have something I need to tell you. Since we met, everything in my life has changed. And you, Byleth, are one of the greatest reasons for that. You taught me that I could believe in myself, but more importantly, that I could still believe in others. That maybe the world wasn’t quite as terrible as I had always imagined, and that even in my darkest days, I will have those who care for me by my side. So, what I’m trying to say is…”

Edelgard took a deep breath, the rest of the world falling away as she regarded the amazing woman before her.

“I love you, Byleth. Would you do me the honor of being my girlfriend?”

Edelgard was prepared for the agonizing, century-long pause, followed by the sting of rejection, but neither came. Instead, Byleth opened her mouth wide, and began to laugh.

“I was going to ask you if you took much longer!”

“What?” Edelgard could feel the blush on her cheeks deepening as Byleth chortled, leaning forward to grip her in a tender embrace.

“I’ve been waiting, but I didn’t know if you...had the same feelings. So I waited, and I waited, and I asked my Dad what he thought I should do…”

“You asked your DAD? Jeralt knows?”

Byleth nodded, and Edelgard felt the slightest urge to duck her head in the fountain and wait for a merciful drowning rather than the ignoble death of an utter roasting by cheek blush. “He said I should wait just a little longer, and I was worried, but…” Byleth paused a moment, and Edelgard could feel her grip loosen slightly. “Do you really mean it?”

“Of course. I would like nothing more than to date someone as strong, smart, and kind as you.”

“And I think that you are the bravest woman I know.” Byleth pulled back now, and the pair stood there, each with their hands on the other’s shoulders as the fountain spat joyfully before them. Something about it simply felt _right_, the way Byleth’s face shone as her serious tone subsided into giggles once again. Edelgard tried to fake a pout, but couldn’t hold it for long, and soon they were both laughing, basking in the joy of one another’s arms. In that moment, the fluorescent skylights of Garreg Mach Mall seemed every bit as radiant as any full moon could ever claim.

When the couple returned to Nabatea’s basement, all eyes were, predictably, on them. Dorothea in particular was leaning forward across the table, her expression akin to a hawk in search of wounded rabbits. After such a lovely surprise was given to her, Edelgard decided that perhaps the gathered crowd deserved one of their own. She pulled gently on Byleth’s sleeve, and once the taller woman looked down, she stood on the tips of her toes, slowly moving forward in the offer of a kiss.

When Byleth returned the favor, the experience wasn’t perfect. It was clear that neither of them had much experience, with Edelgard’s approach utterly clinical and Byleth’s simply scrounged from the remnants of scenes played out on a VHS, but to the both of them, it felt utterly perfect. To their spectators, it evidently had a similar effect, as bursts of hoots, cheers, and whistles broke out from around the basement. By the time Edelgard pulled her attention away from Byleth’s lips, she could see that Dorothea had already nearly shrieked herself hoarse from the excitement.

“Ahem.”

Following Byleth’s shocked stare, Edelgard whirled around to find Seteth behind her, his mouth set in a stern horizontal line.

“Oh. I’m sorry, I…”

“If you’re...done with that.” The shopkeeper smirked as he handed over a stack of papers. “Here are the night’s pairings. Consider your entry fee on the house tonight, Miss Hresvelg, so long as you don’t mind handing these out, and you refrain from starting any additional riots in my establishment.”

“Thank you, Seteth.”

As she finished distributing the night’s pairings, thanking and greeting each of her competitors, Edelgard came to the final sheet in the stack.

Edelgard Hresvelg  
Table 4  
Seat 2

Byleth Eisner  
Table 4  
Seat 1

“Well, well, well…” Edelgard grinned as she brandished the announcement to Byleth, sliding into her assigned seat for the night. “It seems we’ll get to have a rematch sooner than expected.”

“I hope you know that just because we’re dating, I’m not going to let you win.” Byleth replied, fishing the rickety deck box from her bag.

“Oh, Byleth. If you were the type to do something like that, I don’t think we’d be dating in the first place!” Taking the altered Arvis card from the stack, she placed it on the table. “I’ll be using “Arvis, Emperor of Flame”. She presented the deck of cards to Byleth, taking in the familiar sights, scents, and sounds of the wonderful place she called home.

“Time to shuffle up!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we have it! This is the end of Luck of the Draw!
> 
> Before I say anything else, I want to give out sincere thanks to the many people without whom this story would not be what it is today. Thank you to all the wonderful friends who have provided feedback on early chapter drafts or shared their favorite parts of the story with me. Thank you to all the fantastic fan artists who have made my day with works based on something I wrote (which is STILL SO BIZARRE TO ME). Thank you to everyone who left comments and let me know that this story was something they enjoyed, or that meant something to them, and encouraged me to go on. Luck of the Draw is dedicated to you, and this fic has the best fanbase in the world.
> 
> Credit goes to my wonderful friend InRemote and her fantastic gift fic, "Children's Card Games", for the concept of Caspar's VHS tapes of the Fire Emblem anime!
> 
> It has been one hell of a ride. I honestly didn’t expect this idea to get any traction, it was just a breezy little one-shot I cooked up after coming home early from Friday Night Magic one night and having the urge to write. When I posted it, I remember asking if anyone would like more.
> 
> The positive response, and the over 100 Kudos absolutely blew me away. I was very pleased to learn that so many of you took an interest in this idea, and I wanted to make sure I could deliver something that would satisfy you. 
> 
> And so, six months later, we’re at the end. I know this is a difficult time for everyone, and I can only hope that this helps to give you a light distraction. 
> 
> Now that we’re done, where do we go from here? Though the main story is complete, I wouldn’t entirely write off the idea of spinoffs or other stories in this continuity, although I’m not promising those either. If I do end up writing them, I’ll probably put them in a little collection called “LotD: Sideboard”. That’s a good gag. I think. I do have plans for future work, some including Three Houses, but we’ll see how that goes! Keep an eye out, and I’m sure you’ll see it when the time comes.
> 
> If you have any questions about anything related to LotD, both in-universe or about its creation, please feel free to ask in the comments! I love chatting with you about the story! I would also really like it if you’d share your favorite scene or moment from the fic with me, so I can get a better grasp on what worked for my future projects.
> 
> Thank you all so very much for reading. As always, feedback is welcome, and I hope you’ll join me on the next story!


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